CalSTRS

The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits for California's 847,833 prekindergarten through community college educators and their families. CalSTRS was established by law in 1913 and is part of the California State and Consumer Services Agency.

As of September 2009, CalSTRS is the largest teachers’ retirement fund and the second largest public pension fund in the United States. CalSTRS is also currently the seventh largest public pension fund in the world.

Member profile

* Public school and community college districts

Teachers' Retirement Fund

* Defined Benefit

The assets come from contributions by members, employing school districts and the State of California. The fund’s investments create a stream of income to add to those assets.

The CalSTRS investment portfolio includes stocks, bonds, real estate and short-term investments.

Teachers' Retirement Board

The 12-member Teachers’ Retirement Board is made up of:

* Three member-elected positions representing current educators

In February 2002, the board appointed Jack Ehnes as Chief Executive Officer of CalSTRS to administer the system consistent with the board’s policies and rules. The board also selects a Chief Investment Officer, currently Christopher J. Ailman, to direct the investments of the Teachers’ Retirement Fund in accordance with board policy.

Investments and corporate governance

* Support of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that brings dramatic new standards to the corporate board rooms and accounting profession.

On May 28, 2009, CalSTRS announced that individual proxy votes will be publicly available online through a partnership with ProxyDemocracy.org, a nonprofit organization that offers free online investment information about portfolio companies.

Like other large pension plans, CalSTRS had previously announced its proxy-vote intentions on selective companies. The addition of online disclosure opens the process to all CalSTRS portfolio companies, allowing other shareholders to know how the pension fund will vote.

As of May 2009, CalSTRS holds stock in over 3,800 North American companies. , is part of the Sacramento Riverfront Master Plan.

LEED certified building

A few of the features designed into the building to qualify for LEED Gold certification are:

* Water: low-flow plumbing, efficient irrigation to water native plants that don't need a lot of water.

It is expected that construction of the CalSTRS headquarters will add momentum to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s push for “green” buildings and speed up a similar movement in private construction.

References

External links