Retirees press CalPERS board member to review private‑equity holdings and outside reports

Retirees on a CalPERS stakeholder webinar pressed board member Yvonne Walker to take a closer look at private‑equity investments and at a recent outside report alleging shortcomings in CalPERS’ oversight. "It calls for an appointment of an independent inspector general to review the investments," said a longtime state employee who said the group had retained Benchmark Financial Services.

Another caller cited a media investigation and urged scrutiny, saying the report was titled, in his words, "CalPERS, America's misled and misleading pension leader." Walker said she had not seen that particular report before the call but said she would look for it and review the materials.

Callers worried about transparency and potential conflicts of interest in complex investments such as private equity that they said can lead to business closures and job losses; one attendee cited private‑equity ownership of retail chains as examples of past negative outcomes. Walker described the board’s role as setting investment policy and standards and said the board requires mechanisms to hold outside managers to labor and transparency standards. "Every board meeting, you know, they give reports, and we're asking questions, making sure that they are held up to our standards," she said.

Walker added that, while the system occasionally loses money, CalPERS’ purpose is to preserve long‑term funding and that sustained multi‑year losses would be required before the system would see benefit‑level impacts. She encouraged members to submit comments on board calls and attend meetings to make concerns part of the public record.

The webinar did not include a board motion or an announcement of an independent review. Callers said they had submitted the Benchmark Financial Services report to CalPERS via the webinar Q&A and urged board members to consider appointing an inspector general or an independent reviewer; Walker said she would review the submission.