California has passed a law requiring all members of CalPERS’ board to receive a minimum level of investment training every two years.
Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law on July 18. It means the members of CalPERS’ board will be mandated to complete at least 24 hours of training on a variety of investment issues every two years. Each member’s record of training will be published on the pension’s website.
The bill lists 10 topics to be included in the training, including fiduciary responsibilities, pension investments and investment management, governance, funding, “actuarial matters”, and administration. More topics may be included.
The $290 billion pension, which provides retirement benefits for California’s public sector workers, has 13 people on its board of administration: Six are elected by members—including current President Rob Feckner and Vice President Priya Sara Mathur—two are appointed by the state governor, one is appointed by the California Senate Rules Committee, and four are senior public sector staff including the state treasurer and the state controller.
The bill can be read here.
CalPERS members will vote starting August 29 for replacements for Mathur and George Diehr, who have both been members since 2003 and whose current terms end on January 15, 2015.
The largest US pension is still reeling from announcements made by its former CEO Fred Buenrostro relating to a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery and fraud. Buenrostro pleaded guilty earlier this month to the charge, and agreed to testify against former CalPERS board member Alfred Villalobos, who is being pursued by federal prosecutors on similar charges.
CalPERS condemned Buenrostro’s “misconduct and ethical breaches” and said it had “taken aggressive steps to implement policies and reforms that strengthen accountability and ensure full transparency”.