Spillovers from CalPERS Scandals Tend to Hurt UC

CalPERS, the huge (nation's largest) public pension and retirement fund, has been prone to scandal for years. Even though the UC pension is one of the three major California pension systems (behind CalPERS and CalSTRS), it is governed very differently from the others, particularly from CalPERS. However, when public policy changes are made with regard to public pensions, UC is an after-thought. But we tend to be dragged into whatever the aftermath turns out to be.

The latest CalPERS involves its chief investment officer who abruptly resigned in order, he said, “focus on my health and on my family and move on to the next chapter in my life.”

You can read about it in the Sacramento Bee here:
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article245025205.html

The latest scandal seems to have been triggered by reports in the Naked Capitalism blog:
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/08/calpers-digs-its-ben-meng-defenestration-hole-deeper-the-more-it-splains-claims-knowledge-of-problem-months-ago.html
and
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/08/calpers-chief-investment-officer-ben-meng-resigns-following-our-exposing-his-false-felonious-financial-disclosure-filings-and-private-equity-conflicts-of-interest.html
and
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/08/calpers-chief-investment-officer-ben-meng-made-false-felonious-financial-disclosure-report-more-proof-of-lack-of-compliance-under-marcie-frost.html

There is not much we can do about it, other than fret. From time to time, the Regents have noted that the state routinely funds CSU's retirement costs through CalPERS, but does not routinely pay into the UC plan. Let's hope that this time, the scandal-free UC pension can differentiate itself and distance itself from CalPERS.