December 8, 2017

Communications & Stakeholder Relations
Contact: Amy Morgan, Information Officer
(916) 795-3991 - newsroom@calpers.ca.gov

Fiscal year 2016-17 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report now available

SACRAMENTO, CA - The California Public Employees' Retirement System released its annual financial report, which provides a detailed summary of the pension plan's financial results and investment activities over a one-year period ending on June 30, 2017. The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) (PDF, 8.48 MB) presents an in-depth statistical analysis of pension and health finances of the System.

"The significant accomplishments in this report affirm our commitment to fiscal responsibility," said Marcie Frost, CalPERS chief executive officer. "The CAFR continues to serve as a measure of our commitment to accountability and transparency."

Significant data in the CAFR for fiscal year (FY) ending June 30, 2017:

• Investment assets stood at $326.4 billion for the Public Employees' Retirement Fund (PERF). This is an increase of more than $24 billion in assets when compared with the previous fiscal year when assets reached $302 billion. Assets today are $344 billion.
• Net Investment returns in the PERF were 11.2 percent due to strong financial markets. Our Public Equity program returned 19.6 percent for the year.
• Overall investment expense costs decreased by $169.9 million.
• The funding level for the PERF was 68.3 percent as of June 30, 2016. As a result of the discount rate change from 7.5 percent to 7 percent through the three-year phase-in, the PERF funded status is estimated to hold at 68 percent for June 30, 2017. This estimate assumes a 7 percent discount rate that will be in effect in FY 2019-20 for the state and FY 2020-21 for schools and public agencies.
• The PERF paid $21.4 billion in annual pension benefit payments to nearly 670,000 retirees and beneficiaries — an increase of 3 percent from the previous fiscal year of nearly 650,000.

Although the CAFR provides a comprehensive financial picture of the multidimensional CalPERS pension fund, more specific information regarding each of CalPERS' contracting public agencies is available online in the June 30, 2016 Public Agency Actuarial Valuation Reports. These reports detail the financial status of each public agency pension plan and establish FY 2018-19 employer contribution rates for 2,945 contracting public agency employers.

About CalPERS

For more than eight decades, CalPERS has built retirement and health security for state, school, and public agency members who invest their lifework in public service. Our pension fund serves more than 1.9 million members in the CalPERS retirement system and administers benefits for more than 1.4 million members and their families in our health program, making us the largest defined-benefit public pension in the U.S. CalPERS' total fund market value currently stands at approximately $344 billion. For more information, visit www.calpers.ca.gov.