Trustees of the $163 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) voted last week to oppose any blanket divestment bills – warning that sweeping investment bans sought by the state legislature could threaten financial returns for retired educators.
The second-largest public pension fund in the US, which acquiesced in legislative pressure on Sudan divestment, says that a broad Iran investment ban – the target of Assembly Bill 221 and Senate Bill 461, along with a ban on investments in terrorist states – would wreak havoc on the fund’s portfolio, according to the Sacramento Bee.