Regents' Committee on Investments Meeting

Regents visit site selected for UC-Santa Cruz in 1963

Although the next "regular" meeting of the Regents is Sept. 16-17, the Committee on Investments often meets before the regular meetings. This time, for example, it meets on Sept. 9.

The official business on the Committee's agenda is a review of the earnings performance of the funds managed for the Regents: the endowment, pension, and short-term funds. As we have noted, over the past year, including the recent summertime market turmoil, broad measures of the equity markets haven't gone anywhere. (Public equities make up over half of the pension fund.) However, the period to be examined on Sept. 9 ends June 30, 2015, before the summer turmoil. During the year ended June 30, the pension fund had a return of about 4.5%. The office of the Chief Investment Officer points to the fact that this rate is above the benchmark used by that office. Of course, it's also below the long-term 7.5% assumption. On the other hand, the longer term rates of return historically, except for the 10-year return (which encompasses the Great Recession), are above 7.5%: [click to enlarge]

There is also scheduled to be a review of the sustainable investment program. It has been Regents policy to resist calls for divestment for this and that (not always, however) and to emphasize the Good Works being done by UC's investments. However, given legislative directives to CalPERS and CalSTRS to divest from coal, it remains to be seen what will happen at UC.

The agenda (with attachments) for the Committee on Investments is at http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/sept15/invest.pdf