More in Sustainable Investments Program

Environmental, Social & Governance Integration

Our Sustainable Investments team leads all aspects of the fund’s efforts to develop and implement an economics-based environmental, social, and governance (ESG) research and data framework to support ESG integration into the investment decision-making process.

Stakeholders are welcome to engage on ESG matters via public comment at Board meetings, emailing comments to our Stakeholder Relations team, or mailing written letters to:

CalPERS Office of Stakeholder Relations – Strategic Stakeholder Outreach
400 Q Street
Sacramento, CA 95811

Sustainable Investment Practice Guidelines

Acknowledging sustainability issues can impact all areas of the portfolio. We develop, use, and continually refine tools and practices to help our internal and external managers utilize sustainable investment considerations throughout the life cycle of the investments. This includes investment selections, contracting, and monitoring processes, which are subject to fiduciary principles.

Each asset class has a set of sustainable investment practice guidelines that reflect their needs and strategies. The guidelines integrate existing beliefs, principles, and policies related to ESG considerations, including our Investment Beliefs, Governance & Sustainability Principles (PDF), and United Nations-supported Six Principles for Responsible Investment.

These guidelines are intended to evolve and adapt with industry best practices and as data and tools emerge and improve:

Sustainable Investment Research Initiative (SIRI) Library

We believe it is important to ground our approach in data and evidence. For this reason, we created the Sustainable Investment Research Initiative (SIRI) Library. SIRI was designed to promote innovative thought leadership that would advance and inform our understanding of sustainability factors and the impact they may have on companies, markets, and investment intermediaries.

In 2013, SIRI compiled more than 700 academic papers that evaluated ESG issues, and their impact on value creation and risk management. In 2017, with our academic partners such as UC Davis Graduate School of Management, we completed a SIRI refresh which included additional academic papers. SIRI is now a searchable database of nearly 1,900 papers on ESG topics, including issues such as income inequality and diversity.

Sustainable Investments Program