Rob Feckner

California's massive public employee pension system gained more than 13% in investment returns last year, most of it from stocks and real estate, the agency said. It was the best year for the California Public Employees' Retirement System since 2006, when the fund gained 15.7%. CalPERS investments were up 1.1% in 2011 as it struggled to regain its footing after the Great Recession. With more than $250 billion in assets, CalPERS is the largest public employee pension fund in the U.S. The agency administers retirement benefits for more than 1.6 million current and retired state, school and local government employees and their families.

California's massive public employee pension system gained more than 13% in investment returns last year, most of it from stocks and real estate, the agency said. It was the best year for the California Public Employees' Retirement System since 2006, when the fund gained 15.7%. CalPERS investments were up 1.1% in 2011 as it struggled to regain its footing after the Great Recession. With more than $250 billion in assets, CalPERS is the largest public employee pension fund in the U.S. The agency administers retirement benefits for more than 1.6 million current and retired state, school and local government employees and their families.

* The board of CalPERS, the biggest U.S. pension fund, unanimously elected Rob Feckner to his third term as president. * Iconix Brand Group Inc., owner of the Ocean Pacific and Joe Boxer clothing labels, agreed to buy dance apparel brand Danskin for as much as $85 million. * Entravision Communications Corp., a Spanish-language broadcaster based in Santa Monica, said its fourth-quarter profit rose to $21.4 million, or 20 cents a share, from $3.42 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier.

The board of the state's biggest public employee pension fund might take one of its own members to task Wednesday for repeatedly failing to file required financial disclosure reports on time. At a special meeting of the California Public Employees' Retirement System board, fund President Rob Feckner will explain the recommendations on disciplinary action the 13-member board could take against Priya Mathur. Last week the state's political watchdog agency, the Fair Political Practices Commission, levied a $4,000 fine against Mathur, a two-term elected board member, for failing to file her legally required 2008 financial disclosure statement on time.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System re- elected Rob Feckner president of the $200-billion fund. Calpers' 13-member board voted unanimously to elect Feckner, 48, who also serves as president of the California School Employees Assn. He was first elected last February to replace Sean Harrigan, a leader of the Food and Commercial Workers International Union who was removed after clashing with businesses aligned with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Rob Feckner, a school district maintenance worker from Napa, Calif., appears headed toward an easy election today as president of the California Public Employees' Retirement System. Feckner, 47, has been serving as acting president since the ouster of his controversial predecessor, Sean Harrigan, on Dec. 2. Harrigan's removal raised an outcry among corporate governance advocates, who feared it signaled a retreat from CalPERS' role as an aggressive watchdog of business.

Rob Feckner didn't waste much time Wednesday basking in the applause that greeted his unanimous election as president of the $183-billion California Public Employees' Retirement System. Within minutes of the vote, the bearded, burly 47-year-old Feckner had presided over the selection of his vice president, read a statement of his beliefs and launched a businesslike discussion of the No. 1 item on the day's agenda: voting to oppose Gov.

When Rob Feckner took over as head of the nation's richest public pension fund this year, he promised a quieter, gentler leadership style. That was good news to many -- both friend and foe -- who had grown weary of the noisy controversies that were becoming the norm at the California Public Employees' Retirement System. Critics said that CalPERS at times seemed more intent on policing corporate America than looking after the welfare of its 1.4 million members.

The board of the state's biggest public employee pension fund might take one of its own members to task Wednesday for repeatedly failing to file required financial disclosure reports on time. At a special meeting of the California Public Employees' Retirement System board, fund President Rob Feckner will explain the recommendations on disciplinary action the 13-member board could take against Priya Mathur. Last week the state's political watchdog agency, the Fair Political Practices Commission, levied a $4,000 fine against Mathur, a two-term elected board member, for failing to file her legally required 2008 financial disclosure statement on time.

The board president of the nation's biggest public employee pension fund is urging his fellow directors to avoid private meetings with go-betweens who help pitch private-equity investments to the fund. The California Public Employees' Retirement System board has ordered an outside investigation of the role of those intermediaries, known as placement agents, in the agency's massive investments, and board President Rob Feckner said members should not associate with the agents, at least for now. Feckner's memo, issued Thursday afternoon, came as his agency is buffeted by growing concerns about the role of intermediaries, money and influence in CalPERS decisions and calls for reforms in the way CalPERS handles its affairs.

The board president of the nation's biggest public employee pension fund is urging his fellow directors to avoid private meetings with go-betweens who help pitch private-equity investments to the fund. The California Public Employees' Retirement System board has ordered an outside investigation of the role of those intermediaries, known as placement agents, in the agency's massive investments, and board President Rob Feckner said members should not associate with the agents, at least for now. Feckner's memo, issued Thursday afternoon, came as his agency is buffeted by growing concerns about the role of intermediaries, money and influence in CalPERS decisions and calls for reforms in the way CalPERS handles its affairs.

* The board of CalPERS, the biggest U.S. pension fund, unanimously elected Rob Feckner to his third term as president. * Iconix Brand Group Inc., owner of the Ocean Pacific and Joe Boxer clothing labels, agreed to buy dance apparel brand Danskin for as much as $85 million. * Entravision Communications Corp., a Spanish-language broadcaster based in Santa Monica, said its fourth-quarter profit rose to $21.4 million, or 20 cents a share, from $3.42 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System re- elected Rob Feckner president of the $200-billion fund. Calpers' 13-member board voted unanimously to elect Feckner, 48, who also serves as president of the California School Employees Assn. He was first elected last February to replace Sean Harrigan, a leader of the Food and Commercial Workers International Union who was removed after clashing with businesses aligned with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

When Rob Feckner took over as head of the nation's richest public pension fund this year, he promised a quieter, gentler leadership style. That was good news to many -- both friend and foe -- who had grown weary of the noisy controversies that were becoming the norm at the California Public Employees' Retirement System. Critics said that CalPERS at times seemed more intent on policing corporate America than looking after the welfare of its 1.4 million members.

Rob Feckner didn't waste much time Wednesday basking in the applause that greeted his unanimous election as president of the $183-billion California Public Employees' Retirement System. Within minutes of the vote, the bearded, burly 47-year-old Feckner had presided over the selection of his vice president, read a statement of his beliefs and launched a businesslike discussion of the No. 1 item on the day's agenda: voting to oppose Gov.

Rob Feckner, a school district maintenance worker from Napa, Calif., appears headed toward an easy election today as president of the California Public Employees' Retirement System. Feckner, 47, has been serving as acting president since the ouster of his controversial predecessor, Sean Harrigan, on Dec. 2. Harrigan's removal raised an outcry among corporate governance advocates, who feared it signaled a retreat from CalPERS' role as an aggressive watchdog of business.

California's political watchdog agency has opened an investigation into gifts to state pension officials from private equity fund managers. The state's Fair Political Practices Commission is conducting the investigation, made public Monday, that focuses on executives at the California Public Employees' Retirement System. Last week CalPERS Chief Executive Anne Stausboll told administrators at the pension fund that some senior executives may have failed to report gifts properly on annual statements of economic interest filed with the state.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System said Tuesday that it adopted a new set of standards for 90 investment banks and brokers that trade on its behalf, to tighten rules designed to prevent conflicts of interest. The changes dovetail with changes that 10 major Wall Street firms agreed to make this year in a $1.4-billion settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the states.