California State Teachers Retirement System

The California State Teachers' Retirement System, the third-largest U.S. public pension fund, has approved a resolution asking Tyco International Inc. and Ingersoll-Rand Co. to move their corporate headquarters back to the U.S. CalSTRS owns 145,818 shares of Ingersoll-Rand and 869,749 shares of Tyco.

SACRAMENTO — The California State Teachers' Retirement System will cast its 5.3 million shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. against the reelection of the company's board after allegations of bribery in the retailer's Mexican operations. Citing "a breakdown of corporate governance and lack of oversight," Jack Ehnes, chief executive of CalSTRS, made the announcement Tuesday "CalSTRS believes former and current Wal-Mart executives and board members breached their fiduciary responsibilities," Ehnes said.

Real estate developer CIM Group Inc. has built a reputation as a big-city turnaround artist, transforming dreary business districts from downtown Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., with pricey loft apartments, trendy retailers and leafy pedestrian malls. Founded in 1994 by two Israeli immigrants and an investment banker who once worked with junk-bond king Michael Milken, CIM has made its mark on some of the more recognizable developments in Southern California, including Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.

SACRAMENTO - The nation's second biggest public pension fund, which provides retirement benefits for almost half a million California teachers, faces a projected $64.5-billion shortfall over the next three decades. Ed Derman, deputy chief executive of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, told reporters Tuesday that the $152-billion pension fund has only 69% of what it needs to meet future obligations. Pension experts say an asset value equal to about 80% of future obligations is the minimum conservative funding level for a program such as CalSTRS.

Another pension alarm bell is ringing in Sacramento, this time at the teachers retirement system, where the nation's second-largest public pension fund is reporting a $43-billion shortfall. The California State Teachers' Retirement System said that as of June 30, 2009, it could meet only an estimated 77% of its future pension obligations -- far less than the 100% recommended by actuaries. Known as CalSTRS, the fund took a big hit during the 2008-09 fiscal year, losing a quarter of its value.

* TPG/CalSTRS, an investment partnership co-owned by the California State Teachers Retirement System, will buy four buildings that constitute the Houston headquarters of BMC Software Inc. for $295 million. TPG/CalSTRS is a partnership of the $142-billion pension fund and Los Angeles-based Thomas Properties Group Inc.

Builder Brookfield Homes Corp. said it had formed a joint venture with the California teachers' pension fund to develop residential land. Brookfield builds homes in California and the Washington, D.C., area. The builder and the California State Teachers' Retirement System will contribute equally as much as $400 million to buy, entitle and develop land for sale to residential home builders and developers, mostly in California.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System has purchased a 126,200-square-foot warehouse/distribution building from the Lincoln Property Co. of Irvine in a deal valued at about $6.9 million. The building is at 5455 E. La Palma Ave. in Anaheim. Coldwell Banker represented Lincoln Property, and Equitable Real Estate Investment Management acted as an adviser to the Teachers Retirement System.

The state must pay a $500-million contribution withheld from the California State Teachers Retirement System, the nation's third-largest pension fund, a judge ruled Wednesday. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Judy Holzer said California is obligated to make the payment to the pension fund as part of its payments to 63,000 retired teachers and their relatives. The withholding of the $500 million was due to a bill, passed in May 2003, when then-Gov.

California's giant teacher pension fund has reached a nearly $47-million settlement with Qwest Communications International Inc. over a lawsuit claiming that the Denver-based telephone company defrauded the fund out of $150 million. The settlement, made public Wednesday, calls for Qwest, its accountants and banks to pay the pension fund $45 million. Former Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio must pay $1.5 million.

Less than a week after filing its initial public offering, Facebook Inc. is facing complaints from a powerful California pension fund about the makeup of its all-male board of directors. The California State Teachers' Retirement System sent a letter to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, raising concerns that the board named in the company's IPO filing does not have a wide spectrum of corporate experience, and is lacking gender and racial diversity. "We want them to be cognizant of the fact the board is rather homogenous," CalSTRS spokesman Ricardo Duran said Tuesday.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the country's largest public pension fund, has named a new investment executive to run its $49-billion private equity portfolio. Real Desrochers, who spent a decade doing a similar job for the California State Teachers' Retirement System, replaces Leon Shahinian, who resigned in August. He left the agency after being put on administrative leave in the wake of a spreading corruption scandal at CalPERS. Shahinian was mentioned but not named as a defendant in a 2010 lawsuit filed by then-Atty.

Beleaguered Wall Street bankers might be staying away from this year's World Economic Forum at Davos, the Swiss ski resort. But that hasn't discouraged Jack Ehnes, the chief executive of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, from attending his fourth get-together of global movers and shakers from economics, business and government. The conference runs through Sunday. Although his $134-billion fund, the nation's second-largest public pension fund in assets, had lost about 25% of its portfolio as of June 30, the end of its last fiscal year, its board approved Ehnes' request for the European trip, which is expected to cost around $4,000.

Real estate developer CIM Group Inc. has built a reputation as a big-city turnaround artist, transforming dreary business districts from downtown Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., with pricey loft apartments, trendy retailers and leafy pedestrian malls. Founded in 1994 by two Israeli immigrants and an investment banker who once worked with junk-bond king Michael Milken, CIM has made its mark on some of the more recognizable developments in Southern California, including Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.

The pension funds for California public employees and teachers posted above-average returns in the last year thanks to large holdings in overseas stocks and private equity, data released Monday showed. The California Public Employees' Retirement System said its investment portfolio returned 19.1% in the fiscal year ended June 30. The California State Teachers' Retirement System posted a 21% gain.

Builder Brookfield Homes Corp. said it had formed a joint venture with the California teachers' pension fund to develop residential land. Brookfield builds homes in California and the Washington, D.C., area. The builder and the California State Teachers' Retirement System will contribute equally as much as $400 million to buy, entitle and develop land for sale to residential home builders and developers, mostly in California.

A Maxxam Inc. shareholder proposal to have the company swap its Headwaters land in exchange for government claims from a failed savings and loan was endorsed by a large pension-fund stockholder. The endorsement came from the California State Teachers' Retirement System, which is the Houston-based timber company's 10th-largest institutional shareholder with 71,400 shares. Its recommendation was reported by the Rose Foundation, an Oakland-based environmental group.

The California State Teachers Retirement System, one of the nation's largest public pension funds, Tuesday announced a major change in the management of its portfolio that could signal a trend among other large public pension funds.

California's giant teacher pension fund has reached a nearly $47-million settlement with Qwest Communications International Inc. over a lawsuit claiming that the Denver-based telephone company defrauded the fund out of $150 million. The settlement, made public Wednesday, calls for Qwest, its accountants and banks to pay the pension fund $45 million. Former Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio must pay $1.5 million.