Young Research & Publishing Inc.

Investment Research Since 1978

Disclosure

  • About Us
    • Contributors
    • Archives
    • Dick Young’s Safe America
    • The Final Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
    • Dick Young’s Research Key: Anecdotal Evidence Gathering
    • Crisis at Vanguard
  • Investment Analysis
    • Bonds
    • Currencies and Gold
    • Dividend Investing
    • ETFs & Funds
    • Investment Strategy
    • Retirement Investing
    • Stocks
    • The Efficient Frontier
  • Investment Counsel
  • Dynamic Maximizers®
  • Retirement Compounders®
  • Free Email Signup

California Pensions are Dreamin’

June 18, 2020 By E.J. Smith

By Ihor Tkachuk @ Shutterstock.com

You really can’t make this up.

Rather than admitting that they’ve spent years making the wrong assumptions, and underfunding the pensions of California public workers, CalPERS pension fund managers seem hell-bent on driving the fund off a cliff to save their jobs.

In the Wall Street Journal, Ben Meng, chief investment officer of Calpers, does his best to explain why the fund is taking on a load of leverage to fund its overpromised goals. He writes:

Yet even before the pandemic, we knew that our goal of achieving a risk-adjusted return of 7% would require addressing the market’s triple threat of low interest rates, high asset valuation and low economic growth. In late 2019 we mapped out an investment strategy to deliver sustainable results.

The solution is based on “better assets” and “more assets” and will capitalize on Calpers’s advantages: a long-term investment horizon and access to private asset classes.

Calpers must diversify and increase exposure to private assets, such as private equity and private credit. We refer to these as “better assets” because they have the potential for higher returns and lower expected volatility when compared with publicly traded assets.

“More assets” refers to a plan to use leverage, or borrowing, to increase the base of the assets generating returns in the portfolio. Leverage allows Calpers to take advantage of low interest rates by borrowing and using those funds to acquire assets with potentially higher returns.

This approach is not without risk. Private debt can reduce liquidity. Leverage can exacerbate some short-term volatility. But prudent use of leverage can reduce risk over time by allowing Calpers to keep more exposure in diversifying assets such as Treasury bonds, while pursuing higher returns in other parts of the portfolio.

In Mr. Meng’s view, better assets mean private equity that doesn’t have a believable quote/price, and more assets mean leverage. How could this go wrong?

Originally posted on Your Survival Guy. 

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

You Might Also Like:

  • Your Retirement Life: California Dreamin’ then Disaster Strikes!
  • California Pensions Continue to Make Headlines
  • Underfunded Pensions and a Devil’s Bargain
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
E.J. Smith
E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris.

Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com
Latest posts by E.J. Smith (see all)
  • Time to Save, Troubles Dining Out, and Intelligence on Yellowstone - June 30, 2022
  • RURAL RENAISSANCE: America Finds the Country Again - June 29, 2022
  • Why Work When Taxes Take It All? - June 28, 2022

Search Young Research

Most Popular

  • Here’s Why You Need a 15-Year Retirement Investment Plan
  • Why Work When Taxes Take It All?
  • Are Google, Amazon, and Microsoft About to Crash This Specialized Real Estate Market?
  • The Power of a Compound Interest Table
  • Is the Great Job Boom Over?
  • What Happens to Your Passwords When You Die?
  • Regulators' Bungled Attempts to Cut Emissions Drove Oil Prices Higher
  • RURAL RENAISSANCE: America Finds the Country Again
  • Your Survival Guy: Clearing the Decks, Buying a Boat, Seeing the World and More
  • Vanguard Wellesley (VWINX) vs. Wellington (VWELX): Which Fund is Best?

Don’t Miss

Default Risk Among the Many Concerns with Annuities

Risk and Reward: An Efficient Frontier

How to be a Billionaire: Proven Strategies from the Titans of Wealth

Could this Be the Vanguard GNMA Winning Edge?

Cryptocosm and Life After Google

Warning: Avoid Mutual Fund Year End Distributions

Is Gold a Good Long-term Investment?

How to Invest in Gold

Vanguard Wellington (VWELX): The Original Balanced Fund

What is the Best Gold ETF for Investing and Trading?

Procter & Gamble (PG) Stock: The Only True Dividend King

The Dividend King of the North

You’ll Love This if You’re Dreaming of an Active Retirement Life

RSS The Latest at Richardcyoung.com

  • Should You Believe Ms. Hutchinson?
  • Biden’s Economy Even Weaker than Thought
  • A Cashless Society Is A Debacle for Americans
  • Time to Save, Troubles Dining Out, and Intelligence on Yellowstone
  • Democrats Running AWAY from Biden on the Campaign Trail
  • Touch Sensitive Robots Could Revolutionize Manufacturing
  • An Assault on America’s Central Core
  • Hillary Clinton Claws at Relevance by Publicly Insulting Clarence Thomas
  • RURAL RENAISSANCE: America Finds the Country Again
  • The Best Investment Strategy is Simple, Like Analog Music

About Us

  • About Young Research
  • Archives
  • Contributors

Our Partners

  • Richard C. Young & Co.
  • Richardcyoung.com

Copyright © 2022 | Terms & Conditions

 

Loading Comments...
 

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.