CalSTRS

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Pension program of the California Government Operations Agency

title: "CalSTRS" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["state-agencies-of-california", "public-pension-funds-in-the-united-states", "education-in-california", "government-agencies-established-in-1913", "buildings-and-structures-in-yolo-county,-california", "1913-establishments-in-california"] description: "Pension program of the California Government Operations Agency" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalSTRS" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Pension program of the California Government Operations Agency ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox government agency"]

FieldValue
agency_nameTeachers' Retirement Board
logoLogo CalSTRS.svg
formed1913
preceding2
headquarters100 Waterfront Place, West Sacramento, California
coordinates
minister2_pfo
deputyminister2_pfo
chief1_nameCassandra Lichnock
chief1_positionCEO
chief2_nameHarry M. Keiley
chief2_positionChair
parent_agencyCalifornia Government Operations Agency
child2_agency
keydocument1
website
::

| agency_name = Teachers' Retirement Board | type = | nativename = | nativename_a = | nativename_r = | logo = Logo CalSTRS.svg | logo_width = | logo_caption = | seal = | seal_width = | seal_caption = | picture = | picture_width = | picture_caption = | formed = 1913 | preceding1 = | preceding2 = | dissolved = | superseding = | jurisdiction = | headquarters = 100 Waterfront Place, West Sacramento, California | coordinates = | motto = | employees = | budget = | prime_minister_name = | minister1_name = | minister1_pfo = | minister2_name = | minister2_pfo = | deputyminister1_name = | deputyminister1_pfo = | deputyminister2_name = | deputyminister2_pfo = | chief1_name = Cassandra Lichnock | chief1_position = CEO | chief2_name = Harry M. Keiley | chief2_position = Chair | director_general = | agency_type = | parent_department = | parent_agency = California Government Operations Agency | child1_agency = | child2_agency = | keydocument1 = | website = | footnotes = | map = | map_width = | map_caption =

The California State Teachers' Retirement System, branded as CalSTRS, provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits for California's 965,000 prekindergarten through community college educators and their families. CalSTRS was established by law in 1913, and is part of the State of California's Government Operations Agency. As of September 2020, CalSTRS was the largest teachers' retirement fund in the United States. CalSTRS was also the 11th-largest public pension fund in the world. As of October 31, 2020, CalSTRS managed a portfolio worth $254.7 billion.

Membership

CalSTRS members, as of June 30, 2019, included employees of approximately 1,778 employers:

  • School districts
  • Community college districts
  • County offices of education
  • Regional occupational programs

Teachers' Retirement Fund

The Teachers' Retirement Fund is a special trust fund established by law that holds the assets of the following programs:

The assets come from contributions by members, employing school districts, investment earnings and appropriations from the State of California's General Fund. The fund's investments create a stream of income to add to those assets.

The CalSTRS investment portfolio includes companies' shares, bonds, real estate and short-term investments.

Finances

As of June 30, 2022, CalSTRS managed a portfolio worth approximately $348 billion and held approximately $48 billion of liabilities, leaving a net pension position of $300 billion at that date.

Governance

The Teachers' Retirement Board is responsible for maintaining the Teachers' Retirement Fund in order to pay benefits to CalSTRS members and their survivors.

Teachers' Retirement Board

The Teachers' Retirement Board sets policies, makes rules for and administers CalSTRS. The Board is also responsible for ensuring benefits are paid by the system in accordance with law.

The 12-member Teachers' Retirement Board is made up of:

Executive staff

In February 2002, the board appointed Jack Ehnes as chief executive officer of CalSTRS to administer the system consistent with the board's policies and rules. The board also selected a chief investment officer, (CIO) Christopher J. Ailman, to direct the investments of the Teachers' Retirement Fund in accordance with board policy.

In June 2021, Ehnes retired from the position, and chief operating officer Cassandra Lichnock filled the position.

Advisory committees

Two advisory committees meet regularly to provide forums for active participation in the formation of CalSTRS policies and procedures. The Employer Advisory Committee is composed of county and district employer representatives and CalSTRS staff and meets quarterly, and the Client Advisory Committee includes CalSTRS staff and members from various organizations representing CalSTRS members and benefit recipients and meets regularly coinciding with Board meeting dates.

Operations

The board has supported a variety of corporate governance initiatives and actions aimed at keeping the fund stable. A few of the actions taken include:

  • Support of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that brings dramatic new standards to the corporate boardrooms and accounting profession.
  • Encouragement of the SEC's efforts to adopt tough regulations to rein in lax business practices
  • Discussions with individual corporate leaders to express CalSTRS interest in good corporate governance practices.
  • Litigation to pursue both financial remedies for the system as well as governance reforms

On May 28, 2009, CalSTRS announced that individual proxy votes will be online through a partnership with , a nonprofit organization that offers free online investment information about portfolio companies.

Like other large pension plans, CalSTRS had previously announced its proxy-vote intentions on selective companies. The addition of online disclosure opens the process to all CalSTRS portfolio companies, allowing other shareholders to know how the pension fund will vote.

As of May 2009, CalSTRS held stock in over 3,800 North American companies.

After the December 14, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, California's treasurer, Bill Lockyer, considered ordering CalSTRS to eliminate investments in gun manufacturers. On January 9, 2013, the Teachers' Retirement Board Investment Committee directed staff to "begin the process of divestment from firearm companies that manufacture weapons that are illegal in California", and CalSTRS divested from Sturm Ruger and the American Outdoor Brands Corporation, (formerly Smith & Wesson).

In January 2018, CalSTRS issued a public letter to Apple Inc. alongside JANA Partners, LLC called "Think Differently About Kids". The letter encouraged Apple to find new ways to limit the effects of smartphone use on children.

CalSTRS is among the signatories of the "Principles for a Responsible Civilian Firearms Industry," which seeks to engage firearms manufacturers, dealers, and retailers in promoting gun safety.

Since the mid-2010s, activists have increasingly called for CalSTRS to cut financial ties with fossil fuel companies. In 2015, Kevin de León introduced CalSTRS and CalPERS coal divestment legislation and the California Democratic Party passed a resolution in support of fossil fuel divestment. Kevin de León's bill passed and CalSTRS was required to sell all holdings in companies that received at least 50% of their revenue from thermal coal. State Senator Lena Gonzalez introduced broader fossil fuel divestment legislation in February 2022. The CalSTRS board opposed this legislation. It passed the California State Senate but was halted in the assembly by Jim Cooper. As of 2022, CalSTRS has about $4.1 billion invested in oil and gas companies.

Headquarters

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Calstrsheadquarters.jpg" caption="CalSTRS headquarters in [[West Sacramento, California"] ::

Opened in June 2009, the CalSTRS headquarters building in West Sacramento is expected to meet members' needs through 2049. Growth in membership, the difference and complexity of the needs of a new generation of retiring teachers, and the need to operate more efficiently and sustainably led to the decision to build a new headquarters. The building, a $266 million, 13-story office tower above two levels of public space, is part of the Sacramento Riverfront Master Plan.

The headquarters was designed to meet the Gold certification LEED designation set by the U.S. Green Building Council. Its construction was done by numerous Local Unions and with the aid of Architectural Glass and Aluminum which served as the Glazing Contractor on the project. It is expected that construction of the CalSTRS headquarters will add momentum to former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's push for "green" buildings and speed up a similar movement in private construction. designed into the building to qualify for LEED Gold certification are:

  • Water: low-flow plumbing, efficient irrigation to water native plants that don't need a lot of water.
  • Materials: At least 10 percent of construction materials include recycled content.
  • Reduced construction greenhouse gas emissions: At least 20 percent of construction materials come from within 500 mi of the project site.
  • Natural light: At least 90 percent of people in the building have a direct line of sight to a window to reduce lighting needs and attempt to increase productivity.

In October 2011, the building received USGBC's Platinum certification in Existing Building and Operations Maintenance.

References

References

  1. "CalSTRS at a Glance". CalSTRS.
  2. "Global top 300 pension funds". Thinking Ahead Institute.
  3. "Current Investment Portfolio". CalSTRS.
  4. "Comprehensive Annual Financial Report". CalSTRS.
  5. "CalSTRS Annual Comprehensive Financial Report 2022".
  6. California Education Code § 22200
  7. "Corporate Governance Overview". CalSTRS.
  8. {{cite letter. Jack. Ehnes. (June 4, 2003). link
  9. (May 6, 2009). "CalSTRS Pushes for Executive Pay Policies". Compliance Week.
  10. (May 28, 2009). "CalSTRS Improves Proxy Vote Transparency". CalSTRS.
  11. Burr, Barry B.. (August 2025). "CalSTRS to disclose proxy votes in advance". Pensions & Investments.
  12. Hsu, Tiffany. (December 17, 2012). "Gun company's shares are in line of fire". Los Angeles Times.
  13. (January 9, 2013). "CalSTRS Statement on its Decision to Divest of Certain Firearms Holdings". CalSTRS.
  14. Noguchi, Yuki. (February 26, 2018). "Pension Funds Under Pressure To Sell Off Investments In Gun-Makers". [[All Things Considered]].
  15. Benoit, David. (2018-01-08). "iPhones and Children Are a Toxic Pair, Say Two Big Apple Investors". Wall Street Journal.
  16. Moyer, Liz. (November 14, 2018). "Funds managing $4.8 trillion press the firearm industry to accept new principles on gun safety".
  17. McElhaney, Alicia. (November 14, 2018). "$5 Trillion Investor Coalition to Pressure Gun Companies on Safety Measures".
  18. (December 6, 2018). "Principles for a Responsible Civilian Firearms Industry". [[Harvard Law School]].
  19. (2022-03-21). "Young Oakland climate activists want fossil fuels out of the teachers' pension fund".
  20. Reinders, Sienna. "Students protest CalSTRS' investment in fossil fuels".
  21. (2020-02-02). "Youth Activists Call on California State Teachers Retirement System to End 'Toxic Relationship' With Fossil Fuel Companies".
  22. Venteicher, Wes. (February 20, 2022). "State Senate proposal would force CalPERS, CalSTRS to sell oil and gas holdings". [[The Sacramento Bee]].
  23. Sheeler, Andrew. (January 30, 2020). "Teens drench themselves in fake oil in climate change protest at California pension fund". [[The Sacramento Bee]].
  24. (2015-02-11). "California calls on pension funds to divest from coal in climate change push".
  25. Hirji, Zahra. (2015-05-22). "California Democrats Approve Sweeping Fossil Fuel Divestment Resolution".
  26. Starkman, Dean. (2015-10-19). "CalPERS set to divest from thermal-coal companies".
  27. "State Senator Lena Gonzalez Introduces Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill in CA Legislature".
  28. (2022-02-23). "Senator Lena Gonzalez Announces Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill to Advance California Climate Goals".
  29. "Proposed Bill Would Require CalPERS, CalSTRS to Divest Fossil Fuels {{!}} Chief Investment Officer".
  30. (2022-03-04). "CalSTRS' board opposes state bill to divest from fossil fuels".
  31. (2022-05-27). "Fossil fuel divestment bill passes California Senate".
  32. (2022-06-21). "California bill requiring CalPERS, CalSTRS to divest halted by committee chair".
  33. "'Moral Failure': California Dem Pulls Plug on Fossil Fuel Divestment Legislation".
  34. "CalSTRS Headquarters Facts". CalSTRS.
  35. "New Headquarters Project". CalSTRS.
  36. DC16 The Pride, [http://www.dc16iupat.org/ULWSiteResources/iupatdc16/Resources/file/The%20Pride/The%20Pride%20Feb-April%202009%20In-Design.pdf "CalSTRS Goes for Gold By Building Green "] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-01-05 , ''DC16 The Pride, page 10'', Feb 2009)
  37. Ortiz, Jon. (October 2025). "CalSTRS' new building goes for 'green' gold". [[The Sacramento Bee]].
  38. "CalSTRS Headquarters Achieves Platinum Certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design". CalSTRS.

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state-agencies-of-californiapublic-pension-funds-in-the-united-stateseducation-in-californiagovernment-agencies-established-in-1913buildings-and-structures-in-yolo-county,-california1913-establishments-in-california