CalPERS investment leaders outline strategy to secure retirement benefits and cite recent gains

Leaders of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) investment team said they prioritize generating strong, risk‑adjusted returns to ensure the system can pay retirement benefits for 2.4 million members.

"The most important thing that the investment team does… is to invest the portfolio," said Stephen Gilmore, chief investment officer at CalPERS, noting the office’s mission to secure future pension benefits for the system’s members and beneficiaries.

CalPERS officials framed their work in financial and operational terms. Simiso Nzima, head of global public equity, said the public equity program manages about $220 billion and has outperformed its index by 25 basis points annually over the last five years. "That may seem like a small amount when you're talking basis points — that's $2.4 billion cumulative over a 5‑year period," she said, adding that the gain supports members’ retirement outcomes.

Other investment leaders described their roles and investment focuses. Anton Orlich, head of private equity, said private equity consists of ownership stakes in companies and often adopts longer time horizons that can be less influenced by short‑term public market volatility. Rochelle Nze, investment director in private debt, emphasized her 25 years with CalPERS and the importance of experienced colleagues in managing private credit allocations.

Bashar Zakaria, head of emerging market research, said his team analyzes emerging economies and debt securities to recommend where CalPERS should engage or refrain from investing, noting that countries can move between stronger and weaker phases. Juan Gaviria, an investment director in real assets and infrastructure, pointed to investments in transportation, airports and battery energy storage as ways the fund can support connectivity and a greener, more resilient grid.

Peter Cashion, who leads sustainable investment, said climate solutions are a central focus and described an active effort to engage emerging diverse managers. "New managers that are just coming into the industry have shown that they can generate outperformance because they're targeting a specific niche that's often missed by others," he said.

Tamara Sellers, who said she is both a CalPERS professional and a future pensioner, described the work as personally meaningful: "Securing something that is so important, so hard worked for and so hard earned… gets me up every day."

The presentation was an overview of roles, priorities and recent performance; the speakers did not propose formal actions or votes during the remarks.