CalPERS CEO to Leave at Year's End

Fred Buenrostro, chief executive of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERs), said in a statement released over the weekend that he will retire at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the board is expected to discuss naming an interim CEO at its next meeting later this month.

News of his impending departure leaked a week ago, compelling a formal announcement Monday. Board members asked Buenrostro to set an exit two months ago, around the
time new trustees took their seats at a Feb. 21 meeting, according to Global Proxy Watch.
Longtime Buenrostro champion Robert Carlson had retired in January.

Chief executive since 2002, Buenrostro, 58, has kept CalPERS at the vanguard of global
corporate governance advocacy. But a take-no-prisoners leadership style prompted ongoing concerns about staff morale. He also drew global controversy, most famously at the 2004 International Corporate Governance Network annual conference in Rio de Janeiro, where arm-twisting tactics left a rift between CalPERS and other funds.

Under President Rob Feckner, Buenrostro has worked to heal those wounds. But his departure marks the third executive to quit the largest U.S. pension fund this year, following chief investment officer Russell Read and senior investment officer Christianna Wood.

No word yet on who will fill Buenrostro’s shoes. Expect one internal candidate: chief operating investment officer Anne Stausboll.