CalPERS staff say stakeholder perceptions remain positive despite low response rate; retirees most engaged

Brad Pacheco, CalPERS deputy executive officer for communications and stakeholder relations, presented the system's annual stakeholder perception survey, saying the exercise is an "annual benchmark" that combines direct member experience with what stakeholders hear from outside sources. The survey window ran Feb. 24–April 30, a period staff said included heightened attention from a board election, market volatility and national debate around private‑equity disclosure and ESG issues.

Simone Parker, who leads stakeholder relations, summarized headline findings: "85.43 percent of respondents said yes to the long‑term trend survey questions," she told the board, noting the rate has stayed in the upper 80th percentile over the last five years. Parker said that confidence that "retirement money is safe" remained the lowest‑scoring question (about 80.67% answering yes), while confidence in information received about CalPERS was about 84.51%.

Staff told the board that the survey was sent to five stakeholder groups (active members, retirees, employers, stakeholder association representatives and leadership positions) and that participation is a random subset rather than the entire population. Parker said the response rate was roughly "seven and a half percent" overall, with retirees the most active respondents. She and Pacheco noted that staff kept the survey open longer than usual to reach a statistically meaningful sample.

Board members pressed staff on how to raise participation and reach younger members. Trustee Monica Erickson offered to use her contacts to broaden outreach; Trustee Lisa Middleton urged sustained outreach to traditional media and emphasized cybersecurity and financial‑security messaging for retirees. Pacheco said the agency has expanded channels, including a new TikTok account, additional videos, webinars and plans to test a podcast and modernize the website.

Parker said CalPERS received 4,895 open‑ended comments and that the top themes were customer service, investment‑political influence, member and employer outreach and system complexity. She said staff uses the qualitative feedback to inform communications and program improvements, including expanded Spanish‑language materials and translated classes.

The presentation closed with staff committing to return with proposed strategic measures in February, and to continue tailoring communications to distinct audiences such as retirees, active members and employers.