Old Sacramento St. Paddy's Day Parade Firefighters March. This Saturday, March 13th, Parade Gathering Site at Front & N Streets next to Embassy Suites in Old Sacramento at 1230 with Stepoff at 1300. Class A Uniforms are preferred but Class B's are welcome. All Departments are invited and Firefighters are encouraged to have their children march with them at this family event.

CalPERS is hosting a series of retirement planning fairs this Spring to help its members plan for a more financially secure retirement. The fairs begin in Los Angeles on March 30 and continue through April 14 in Fresno, with fairs also in Sacramento and Redding.

CalPERS members who attend the fairs - employees of the State, local government, public schools, community colleges and California State University campuses throughout California - will recieve information on CalPERS benefits, programs and services that help them plan for a more secure retirement. Retirees will recieve information on how to better manage and preserve their retirement assets.

Each fair features more than a dozen information tables on topics such as services provided by CalPERS regional offices, CalPERS health benefits, how service credit affects your retirement benefit, and CalPERS Supplemental Income Plans. The fairs also feature representatives from Social Security, the State Savings Plus Program, the ScholarShare college savings plan and public employee and public retiree organizations. Regularly scheduled workshops are repeated throughout the day explaining the various benefits available to CalPERS retirees.

The complete schedule is as follows: March 30 in Los Angeles from 9:00 to 4:00 at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown; April 2 in Sacramento from 9:00 to 4:00 at the Sacramento Convention Center; April 3 in Sacramento from 9:00 to 3:00 at the Sacramento Convention Center; April 8 in Redding from 9:00 to 4:00 at the Red Lion Hotel and April 14 in Fresno from 9:00 to 4:00 at the Radisson Hotel.  For more information about CalPERS visit www.calpers.ca.gov

The California Public Employee's Retirement System (CalPERS) said today that it earned an 11.80 percent return on investments for the 2009 calendar year.

Since March 2009, when global financial markets plunged amid a historic wordlwide economic recession, the CalPERS market value of assets has come back by more than $46 billion. total fund assets closed 2009 at $203.3 billion. Today they stand at more than $206 billion, up more than $3 billion in just the first three weeks of the new year.

"Last year was a wild ride for all investors, but we finished very strong," said Joe Dear, CalPERS Chief Investment Officer. "We sharpened our investment focus, looking at our portfolio from top to bottom. Now we're in a strong position to take full advantage of any financial upturn in 2010."

CalPERS 20-year investment return remains steady at 7.75 percent - the assumed rate of return necessary to pay future member pension benefits.

The pension fund's Global Equity portfolio was the biggest gainer among asset classes in 2009, with a 35 percent overall return. Driving the increase: A more than 43 percent gain from investments in international stocks, including emerging markets. Returns on investments in domestic equities increased nearly 28 percent.

Other CalPERS asset classes also saw strong returns last year: Global Fixed Income, up 14 percent; Inflation Linked Asset Class, which includes infrastructure cmmodities, inflation-linked bonds and forestland, up almost 5 percent. Returns on infrastructure are as of September 31, 2009.

Two asset classes - real estate and private equity - suffered losses through the first nine months of 2009. Private equity was down 6 percent. Real Estate fell 47 percent. The reported returns for each lag the year-ending results by one quarter.

"We took some very tough medicine in real estate last year," said Dear. "But our team is making sure we apply the lessons we learned. We're aggressively examining our portfolio and getting rid of the investments that don't meet our expectations. We believe there will be some real opportunities to invest in income-generating properties at good discounts. I'm very excited about our potential and the moves we can make," he added.

CalPERS also is realigning its relationships with its private equity partners, cutting fees and evaluating managers it will continue to do business with.

For information on CalPERS hisory of investments, go to Facts at a Glance-Investments in the press room at 222.calpers.ca.gov

December 14, 2009

Office of Public Affairs

SACRAMENTO, CA - The investment portfolio of the California Public Employee's Retirement System (CalPERS) is showing signs of steady growth according to a quarterly report delivered to the pension fund's Board today.

CalPERS assets stood at nearly $198 billion at the end of the third quarter, according to the report delivered by the Board's investment consultant Los Angeles-based Wilshire Associates. Today, assets stand at more than $200 billion - a $40 billion gain over CalPERS low of $160 billin in March 2009 during the market's downturn.

"We are seeing some strong signs of economic growth that are having a positive impact on the value of our portfolio, " said Joseph Dear, Chief Investment Officer for CalPERS. "While we are still cautiously optimistic, we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel."

The report said that CalPERS growth was aided by a number of factors including the fund's exposure to US. and international equity and corporate governance investment funds that seek to turn around ailing public companies.

For the quarter ending September 30, 2009, CalPERS U.S. equity investments returned 16.7 percent, while its international equity investments earned 20.7 percent. Investments in corporate governance funds saw a 16.6 percent return for the quarter and fixed income assets drew nearly 9 percent.

Investment declines in real estate and private equity continued to weigh on CalPERS overall performance. The fund's real estate assets declined by more than 30 percent for the waurter and 49 percent for the one-year period ended June 30, 2009 as the economic downturn took its toll on all real estate assets and investors.

CalPERS Alternative Investment Management (AIM) program - or private equity investments - reported a decline by mor ethan 24 percent for the one-year period ended June 30, but showed positive signs of growth for the quarter ended June 30 earnign a 7.4 percent return. CalPERS AIM program has outperformed its internal benchmarks for the e, 5 and 10-year periods that are establihsed to meet the pension fund's long-term benefit obligations.

Sicne inception of the porgram in 1990, the AIM portfolio has generated $14.4 billion in profits for CalPERS. (CalPERS real estate and private equity returns reported lag one wuarter and represent performance through June 30, 2009.)

"We have taken a number of steps in our real estate portfolio to reduce leverage, reduce risk, and reposition our investment partnerships for long-term growth," added Dear. "We are also reviewing our relationships with our private equity partners that can lead to reduced fees, better alignment of interests, and more mutually beneficial long-term relationships," he said.

"In the meantime, we have seen significant write-ups in our private equity investments that are expected to increase performance in the coming months. Over time, our real estate and private equity investments will fuel our portfolio in future years when we see a full recovery in the financial markets."

In May 2009, the CalPERS Board revised the fund's asset allocation to position the Fund to take advantage of market opportunities.

CalPERS is the nation's largest public pension fund, administering retirement benefits for 1.6 million active and retired State, public school, and local public agency employees and their families and health beneftis for 1.3 million members. For more information, visit www.calpers.ca.gov

December 14, 2009

PRESS RELEASE

CalPERS PPPA Benefit Reduction in 2010

Benefit Reduction Due to Lower Cost of Living

SACRAMENTO, CA - About 72,000 retirees who receive retirement benefits from the California ublic Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) will se smaller retirement payments beginning in January 2010 because the cost of living went down during the 2009 calendar years.

CalPERS has nearly 500,000 retirees and beneficiaries, but only the 72,000 older retirees who are eligible for the Purchasing Power Protection Allowance (PPPA) benefit will be affected by the reduction. Affected  retirees will see an average reduction in their CalPERS pension payment of $33 per month beginning in January.

The PPPA is a supplemental retirement benefit that kicks in when the purchasing power of a CalPERS retiree's pension benefit drops below 75 percent or 80 percent of the original purchaisng power level due to inflation over time. Under state law, the PPPA kicks in for state and school retirees when their purchasing power drops below 75 percent; for public agencies, it's 80 percent.

When eligible retirees received their PPPA adjustment in January 2009, their purchasing power was brought up to 75 percent. in May, retirees received a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), bringing their purchasing power up to 77 percent. Then CalPERS actuaries calculated inflation in 2009 will go down by 1.03 percent - or negative inflation of 1.03 percent - which would raise the purchasing power of eligible retirees to about 78 percent. Therefore, a reduction in the PPPA benefit was required to bring their purchasing power back down to 75 percent or 80 percent, as required by state law.

CalPERS is using a variety of communications and outreach activities to inform eligible rtirees of the reduction, incluidng letters mailed directly to retirees.

More information is available on the CalPERS Web site at 222.calpers.ca.gov or by callind the CalPERS customer contact center toll free at 888 CalPERS (or 888-225-7377).