A representative of the California Public Employees Retirement System said this week that the board voted to adopt a “total portfolio approach” to investing, shifting decision‑making to prioritize the overall health of the fund and setting a July 1 implementation date. "Every decision that we make here is to ensure the retirement security of almost 2,400,000 members of this system," the representative said.

The change replaces the prior practice of sticking to asset‑class allocations set on a four‑year cycle and asks investment staff to make choices with fundwide outcomes in mind, even when those choices cross traditional asset‑class lines. The speaker said the shift is intended to improve funded status and returns over time and described it as a significant change in investment governance.

The representative also said the board will revisit governance practices as part of a two‑year asset‑liability management (ALM) review, at mister Ruffino's direction, to check how the new approach is working in practice. The fund’s leadership is conducting cultural and organizational changes — begun in 2022 — intended to foster cross‑functional collaboration and clearer leadership behaviors in the investment office ahead of the transition.

CalPERS highlighted related portfolio and staffing developments. The representative said the climate solutions portfolio stood at "60,000,000,000" and described that as progress toward a target of "100,000,000,000 by 2030." The speaker said the sustainable investments team has grown "from 8 to 18 people" with two additional positions to be filled and referenced a briefing on the topic by Peter Cashin earlier in the week.

On private equity, the representative cited industry reporting that CalPERS' private equity book returned 14.3% for the last fiscal year and outperformed 74 other large U.S. pension funds. The fund also reported allocating more than "6,600,000,000" to diverse investment managers and "2,200,000,000" to emerging managers in the last fiscal year, according to the remarks.

Senior hires are underway, the speaker said, including first‑round interviews for the head of the total fund and a search for a deputy chief investment officer for private markets. The remarks closed with recognition of broad staff work on RFPs, contracts, member services and a special note of appreciation for the contact center team.

The representative offered to take questions; the speaker then handed the meeting back to president Taylor and said there were no questions from the board. The ALM review and the July 1 implementation date were presented as the next formal steps to monitor and operationalize the new approach.