President of nation’s largest public pension fund unseated

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The president of the nation’s largest public pension fund has been unseated by a critic who says fund directors are attempting too much social investment at the expense of pensioners.

The Sacramento Bee reported Thursday (https://bit.ly/2IJhHjz) that Corona police officer Jason Perez defeated Priya Mathur, a 15-year member of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s Board of Administration.

It was Perez’s first run for the board. He’s said he worries about the $360 billion pension fund and wants it to concentrate on maximizing returns from its investments.

He’s previously objected, for instance, to calls for the fund to stop investing in companies that sell assault weapons and devices that allow guns to fire more rapidly.

Mathur is a mass transit financial analyst. She was narrowly elected board president in January.