WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (May 9, 2018) – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System today unveiled a plan to prioritize engagement with makers and retailers of firearms that are illegal in California. The plan, approved unanimously by the Teachers’ Retirement Board, authorizes CalSTRS corporate governance staff to make firearms engagement activities a top priority by publicly engaging companies and potentially recommending that the board consider divestment if engagement efforts fail.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (February 7, 2018) – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System today adopted Investment Belief #8, thus completing its first-ever set of investment beliefs to provide overarching guidance on CalSTRS’ investment decisions across its portfolio asset classes.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Jan. 18, 2018) – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System’s Director of Corporate Governance, Anne Sheehan, announced that she will retire March 30, 2018 after 10 years at the helm of the division.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Nov. 29, 2017) – California State Teachers’ Retirement System’s Chief Investment Officer Christopher J. Ailman has been named recipient of Institutional Investor magazine’s first-ever lifetime achievement award. The award recognizes Mr. Ailman’s three-decade career, including 17 years at CalSTRS–where he shepherded the portfolio’s growth from $116 billion upon his arrival in 2000 to $219.6 billion today.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – CalSTRS Chief Executive Officer Jack Ehnes has been elected president of the National Council on Teacher Retirement, marking the first time a Californian has led the organization dedicated to safeguarding the integrity of public retirement systems in the U.S. and its territories. Mr. Ehnes begins his one year term on October 18, succeeding outgoing president, Jill Bachus, Assistant Treasurer, Tennessee Treasury Department.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – CalSTRS Director of Corporate Governance Anne Sheehan made the following statement regarding the organization’s intent to support the nomination of Nelson Peltz to the board of directors at Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG).

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System received the Association of Asian American Investment Managers 2016 Founder’s Award today. The award is a one-time honor being given in celebration of AAAIM’s 10^th Anniversary.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System today announced the release of its second annual Global Reporting Initiative sustainability report: Fostering a Secure Future. The report provides an overview of CalSTRS’ sustainable practices and performance, including overviews of stakeholder, employee and member engagement; a description of the alignment between CalSTRS’ values and those of its business partners; and, examples of workforce activities promoting sustainable economic, environmental and social business practices, which guide its long-term strategy.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System today announced the appointment of Sandy Blair to Director of Retirement Readiness. In her new role, Ms. Blair, the director of CalSTRS Defined Contribution Solutions business unit since 2013, will also oversee CalSTRS member benefits education efforts, field benefits operations, and member and employer outreach activities.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A study from University of California, Berkeley shows that for the vast majority of teachers, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System Defined Benefit pension provides a higher, more secure retirement income compared to a 401(k)-style plan.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – CalSTRS Chief Executive Officer Jack Ehnes issued the following statement in response to the release of the COP21 Paris 2015: Paris Pledge for Action:

“As a global, institutional investor, CalSTRS was an early adopter of the actions outlined in the Pledge. We were one of the first public pension funds not just to sign the Pledge, but to lend substantive support via the voices and actions of our stakeholder network. 

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) today announced the release of its 2013–14 Sustainability Report: The Next 100 Years. CalSTRS is the first U.S. public pension fund to complete the rigorous and detailed sustainability reporting guidelines consistent with the Global Reporting Initiative .  

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Governor Brown announced today the appointment of Nora Vargas to the California State Teachers’ Retirement Board. The board oversees the retirement benefits for California’s prekindergarten–12 and community college educators covered under the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS).

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The board of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) today adopted the actuarial valuation of the Defined Benefit Program as of June 30, 2014. The gap between current assets and the obligations facing the system—known as the unfunded actuarial obligation, or funding gap—has shrunk slightly to $72.7 billion—a nearly one billion dollar decrease from the previous years’ $73.67 billion.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – CalSTRS shares the frustration and concern of educators who want to see our fund completely divest from firearms.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Continued growth in the equity market, coupled with a bias to U.S. companies, fed a second year of healthy investment returns at the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), which closed the 2013-14 fiscal year with an 18.66 percent return on its investments.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The leadership at the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) today expressed its disappointment that gunmaker, Freedom Group, has not been sold as the nation marks the eve of the anniversary of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  CalSTRS Chief Investment Officer Christopher J. Ailman issued the following statement:

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – In response to the proposed Pension Reform Act of 2014 ballot initiative allowing employers to alter the future retirement benefits of current public employees, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System’s Chief Executive Officer Jack Ehnes, issued the following statement.

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) has released the Corporate Governance 2013 Annual Report, the first such report at CalSTRS.

Ceres proposes recommendations to insurers and regulators to maintain insurability in a warming world.

BOSTON – 2012 was the warmest year on record in the lower 48 states and the second most extreme weather year in United States history. Insurers are increasingly acknowledging that extreme weather has become the new normal, yet a new report from Ceres finds that many in the industry are only just beginning to think about how to address the effects climate change may have on their business – while a small group of companies is leading the way.

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – CalSTRS CEO Jack Ehnes issued a statement today in response to State Controller John Chiang’s “Pension Controls and Mechanisms” review addressing pension spiking:

“Last year, before the State Controller announced plans for his review, CalSTRS had identified the need to make aggressive changes and upgrades to mitigate pension spiking. This resulted in the creation of a toll-free Pension Abuse Reporting Hotline and a dedicated Compensation Review Unit to investigate suspected pension spiking cases.

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – The California State Teachers’ Retirement Board, the governing body of CalSTRS, today announced the selection of Pension Consulting Alliance as the private equity consultant to its Investment Committee for the next five years.

PCA will provide independent assessments of the private equity portfolio’s performance.