RI has partnered with the Committee on Workers Capital (CWC) to publish a series of CWC Trustee Profile interviews with union-nominated pension fund trustees that touch on the role of individual board members in driving innovation around responsible investment at their funds. This installment is with Sharon Hendricks, Vice-Chair of the CalSTRS Board of Trustees.
Sustainability reporting can help organizations to measure, understand and communicate their economic, environmental, social and governance performance more effectively.
Prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s G4 framework, the report is a result of stakeholder engagement and feedback, which was instrumental in prioritizing the report content and analyzing organizational performance.
To gain better insight into the various investment implications presented by climate change, CalSTRS collaborated with Mercer and 17 other participants in a research study, Investing in a Time of Climate Change:California State Teachers’ Retirement System Portfolio Climate Change Risk Assessment. The study highlights estimated portfolio return implications under four climate change scenarios and recommends appropriate actions to mitigate investment risk and maximize value within the portfolio.
The study, conducted by Nari Rhee, PhD, of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and William Fornia, FSA, of Pension Trustee Advisors, shows that switching to an account-based retirement system—such as a 401(k) or cash balance plan—would sharply reduce the retirement income security of teachers who account for a large majority of the educational workforce in California.
Completion of our inaugural 2013–14 Sustainability Report, The Next 100 Years demonstrates our commitment to progressive environmental, social and governance practices. CalSTRS is the first U.S. public pension fund to be recognized for this type, and level, of reporting consistent with the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines.
An economic impact study finds that CalSTRS benefit payments are a substantial economic driver in California, generating $11 billion in economic activity, supporting more than 92,000 jobs and creating about $1.2 billion in tax payments to state and local governments through income, sales and corporate profit taxes.
This study was prepared for CalSTRS by the Applied Research Center at the California State University, Sacramento. The study examines the economic impacts of CalSTRS on the economies of the state of California and its 58 counties.
