The nation’s largest state-based pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), has long been known for using its investment muscle to push for “socially responsible” investments — and for strong-arming private companies to follow its politically correct mandates on everything from climate change to board diversity.
But in recent days, the system has been zinged for considering an about-face, jettisoning “social responsibility” in favor of better investment returns. Following completion of an eight-month study of the subject, CalPERS may abandon its 16-year-old policy of eschewing tobacco investments, which consultants argue has cost the fund $3 billion. CalPERS’ investment staff has recommended the change, which will be voted on by a committee on Dec. 19.
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