UCRS is Rosencrantz & Guildenstern to CalPERS - Part 2

Back in September, we noted that UCRP and CalPERS are administered very differently.* CalPERS has had too-frequent outright scandals and a continuing undercurrent of administrative turmoil. Yet, although UCRP is one of the largest pension funds in the U.S. and does not have a history of scandal and turmoil, it tends to be eclipsed by the much larger CalPERS and CalSTRS. California public pension policy is largely driven by concerns about the two larger funds, especially CalPERS. UC is then swept along by currents not of its making, like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

The most recent CalPERS scandal involved the resignation of its chief investment officer (CIO). Now the CalPERS board seems to have a problem in replacing him:

CalPERS whittles CIO pool to 3 before calling off search

ARLEEN JACOBIUS, Pensions and Investments, 3-19-21

CalPERS had whittled the number of finalists for its next CIO to three, but announced Friday that it has suspended the search without making an offer and will pick it back up in June. Officials at the $439.5 billion pension fund plan to revisit the criteria for the job as well as the search process in April, [CalPERS Chief Executive Officer Marcie] Frost said in an interview Friday. The search was triggered by the August resignation of former CIO Yu “Ben” Meng, in the wake of disclosure filings showing he had invested in shares of private equity managers with which the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Sacramento, had invested in the past. 

Ms. Frost said a 10-member subcommittee that included herself had interviewed eight candidates and trimmed the list to three finalists. Originally, the search process, which began in October, was scheduled to recommend a candidate by January or February. The subcommittee last met March 15 and decided to halt the search, in part, due to the global pandemic and a lack of clarity on whether the new CIO would participate in a long-term incentive program, Ms. Frost said. Although the subcommittee had a pool of qualified candidates to consider it did not end up making an offer to any of them, she said...

Full story at https://www.pionline.com/pension-funds/calpers-whittles-cio-pool-3-calling-search

Of course, one might argue that CalPERS is just being cautious - which is a Good Thing. But the perception will be driven by the reminder of the earlier scandal and the fact that no fix is in place after six months.

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*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2020/09/ucrs-is-rosencrantz-guildenstern-to.html