Fund officials said the loss was “far better than expected” due to the fund’s diversified portfolio and “strong performance ‘ in real estate, bonds, and alternative investments.
Despite the small loss, fund assets gained 10.6% compounded over three years and 12.7% compounded over five years. The fund reported that its five-year compounded equity returns remain 15.2% which exceeded the total equity benchmarks set at 14.8%.
CalPERS has approximately 59% of its investments in the public equity markets, which has been largely responsible for five straight years of double-digit overall returns.
“We knew we were in for an overdue stock market correction after an astonishing five year run of double-digit returns,” Daniel Szente, chief investment officer, said. “We are glad that when the give-back came, it was minimal.”