CalSTRS

UAO Editorial September 6, 2026 36 min read

Registry · Top 100 · Rank 19 · Public pension · United States (California) · Last researched 6 September 2026 (America/Toronto). Corrections: info@universalassetowners.com.

Executive brief

CalSTRS (California State Teachers’ Retirement System) is the largest educator-only public pension fund in the world and the second-largest pension fund in the United States. It is a component unit of the State of California, established by law in 1913, and administers a hybrid retirement system—traditional defined benefit, cash balance, and voluntary defined contribution (Pension2®)—plus disability and survivor benefits for California’s public school educators from prekindergarten through community college. Members’ CalSTRS-covered service is generally not eligible for Social Security, which shapes benefit design and supplemental-savings emphasis.

For researchers tracking U.S. public pensions, CalSTRS sits beside CalPERS as one of the two California mega-funds that set contribution rates, asset allocation, and stewardship norms visible across the industry. Official investment-portfolio series must be cited with as-of dates: the Investment Committee Portfolio Risk Report shows estimated assets of US$390.6 billion as of 31 March 2026 (the INST seed figure); the semi-annual summary valued the Total Portfolio at US$392.2 billion as of 31 December 2025; the live investment-portfolio page and CIO biography cite approximately US$412.9 billion as of 31 July 2026; and the FY2024–25 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report reports a Total Investment Portfolio of US$367.7 billion and fiduciary net position of US$373.2 billion as of 30 June 2025. These are parallel official series—do not silently equate them.

Leadership (live-verified on calstrs.com, 6 September 2026): CEO Cassandra Lichnock (appointed 2021; first female CEO; joined CalSTRS in 2008) and CIO Scott Chan (CIO since July 2024; Deputy CIO from August 2018; leads more than 200 investment staff). The 12-member Teachers’ Retirement Board—Chair Denise Bradford; Vice Chair Sharon Hendricks—sets policies and rules and appoints the CEO and CIO. The Defined Benefit Program funded ratio rose to 79.3% as of 30 June 2025 under the CalSTRS Funding Plan (full funding target 2046), and the board kept FY 2026–27 employer and state contribution rates at existing levels.

Related UAO hubs: Registry · Institutions · CalPERS · UAO Top 100. Corrections: info@universalassetowners.com.

Speakable summary

CalSTRS is California’s educator pension system—largest educator-only fund globally—led by CEO Cassandra Lichnock and CIO Scott Chan. Prefer dated official AUM: about US$390.6 billion estimated at 31 March 2026; about US$412.9 billion on the July 31, 2026 portfolio page. Defined Benefit funded status 79.3% at 30 June 2025; Funding Plan aims for full funding by 2046. Board pledged net zero portfolio emissions by 2050 or sooner with a 50% interim reduction goal by 2030.

Mandate & ownership

CalSTRS was established by law in 1913 to provide retirement benefits to California’s public school educators. Today’s mission, stated on the official About page and ACFR letter of transmittal, is securing the financial future and sustaining the trust of California’s educators. The Teachers’ Retirement Fund is a special trust fund established by law that holds assets of the Defined Benefit, Defined Benefit Supplement, and Cash Balance Benefit programs. Assets include contributions from members, employers, and the State of California; investment returns are described in official materials as the largest income source used to pay benefits.

Legal and political mandate chain: the California Legislature enacts the Teachers’ Retirement Law (part of the Education Code); the 12-member Teachers’ Retirement Board administers the system, sets policies and rules, and is responsible for ensuring benefits are paid in accordance with law; the board appoints a Chief Executive Officer to administer the system and a Chief Investment Officer to direct investment of the Teachers’ Retirement Fund in accordance with board policy. Four board seats are ex officio (State Controller, Director of Finance, State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction), linking constitutional statewide offices into pension governance without making the Governor an investment decision-maker for CalSTRS. Official key-personnel language states that while the Governor does not make investment decisions on behalf of CalSTRS, campaign-contribution regulations governing investment relationships extend to the Governor and certain statewide offices and candidates.

What the mandate is: a statutory hybrid retirement system for California public educators (pre-K through community college) employed by approximately 1,800 school districts, community college districts, county offices of education and other public education employers; fiduciary stewardship of contributions and investment returns to pay promised benefits; administration of disability, survivor, and designated postemployment health programs. What the mandate is not: a discretionary sovereign wealth fund; a Social Security substitute that confers federal OASDI credit for CalSTRS-covered service (members generally do not receive Social Security for that service); or a vehicle for the Governor to direct security selection. Benefit levels and contribution schedules are constrained by statute and the Funding Plan; the board’s rate-setting authority for employers and the state is limited and framed by that plan’s path to full funding by 2046.

Organizational culture language on the About page emphasizes customer service, accountability, leadership, strength, trust, respect, and stewardship as core values, with stewardship defined as recognizing fiduciary responsibility as the foundation for all decision-making. ACFR membership demographics underline why the mandate is distinct: members are predominantly female (over 70%), dedicate more than 25 years to education and retire at age 61 on average, live longer than the general U.S. population, do not receive Social Security for education service, and may lack employer-funded health insurance after age 65. Members who retired in FY 2024–25 received, on average, 59% of their highest salary—reinforcing official emphasis on supplemental savings via Pension2® and 403bCompare.com.

Scale & portfolio

Prefer dated official USD labels. The table below separates series opened for this profile; researchers should match the series to the as-of date required by their use case.

SeriesFigureAs-ofSource
Investment portfolio (est.)US$390.6B31 Mar 2026INV 2026-05 Item 05.01 Portfolio Risk Report
Total Portfolio (semi-annual)US$392.2B ($392,203M)31 Dec 2025INV 2026-03 Item 05a.02
Investment portfolio (web NAV)~US$412.9B ($412,934M)31 Jul 2026calstrs.com/investment-portfolio; CIO bio
Total Investment Portfolio (ACFR)US$367.7B30 Jun 2025ACFR 2025 Investment section
Fiduciary net positionUS$373.2B30 Jun 2025ACFR 2025 letter of transmittal
ACFR NAV of investments (Table 1)US$367,673M30 Jun 2025ACFR Table 1

Over calendar year 2025, the Total Portfolio increased by US$42.5 billion (net of fees and contributions/benefits); over the latest six-month period in that summary, it increased by US$24.5 billion. At 31 December 2025 the portfolio ended overweight Public Equity, Private Equity, Inflation Sensitive, and Collaborative Strategies and underweight Real Estate and Risk Mitigating Strategies, with Strategic Overlay, Cash, and Fixed Income in line with policy targets (semi-annual summary).

Asset allocation — 31 March 2026 (Portfolio Risk Report chart weights):

ClassWeight
Total Public Equity40.5%
Private Equity14.7%
Real Estate12.6%
Fixed Income12.9%
Risk Mitigating Strategies8.1%
Inflation Sensitive7.4%
Cash2.0%
Collaborative Strategies1.8%
Strategic Overlay0.1%

Footnote in the same report: Total Public Equity includes Global Equity Public, Total SISS Public Equity and Innovation Global Equity; Strategic Overlay includes Currency and Derivatives Overlay. Risk commentary: per the BlackRock Aladdin risk model cited in the report, approximately 63% of total risk came from Public Equity versus an asset weight of approximately 41%; Public Equity and Private Equity combined comprised about 79% of portfolio risk.

Asset allocation — 31 July 2026 (investment-portfolio page, net asset value in millions):

AssetNAV ($M)ActualCurrent targetDifferenceRange
Public Equity*177,85643.07%39.00%+4.07%+/−8%
Fixed Income50,87812.32%13.00%−0.68%+/−5%
Real Estate*49,58812.01%15.00%−2.99%+/−5%
Private Equity*56,64213.72%14.00%−0.28%+/−5%
RMS34,9538.46%10.00%−1.54%+/−5%
Inflation Sensitive29,4667.14%7.00%+0.14%+/−5%
Cash / Liquidity4,7401.15%2.00%−0.85%0–5%
Collaborative Strategies*8,3412.02%0.00%+2.02%0–5%
Strategic Overlay4700.11%0.00%+0.11%—
Total investment assets412,934100%100%

* Includes Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies public and private investments totaling US$3,818 million (footnote on the same page).

Geographic and issuer exposures (31 March 2026 Portfolio Risk Report): across all asset classes, about 75.4% of the portfolio was invested in the United States; Japan was the next largest country exposure at 2.3%; China ranked fifth among country exposures. Top parent-company exposures as a percentage of the Total Fund included U.S. government 10.8%, Nvidia 1.7%, Apple 1.5%, Alphabet 1.2%, Microsoft 1.1%, Amazon 0.8%, Broadcom 0.6%, Taiwan Semiconductor 0.6%, Meta Platforms 0.5%, and Tesla 0.4%.

Organisation scale (ACFR / About): total membership 1,054,175 as of 30 June 2025; approximately 1,800 participating education employers; more than 1,450 staff throughout California; seven member service centers plus satellite offices; investment staff of more than 200 under the CIO. Private phone directories and personal emails from office listings are omitted from this profile.

Governance & leadership

Day-to-day executive leadership is headed by CEO Cassandra Lichnock and CIO Scott Chan, both live-listed on calstrs.com executive-staff pages as of this research date. Lichnock’s official biography states she is the first female chief executive officer of CalSTRS; she joined in 2008 as human resources executive officer, became chief operating officer in 2013, and was appointed CEO in 2021. As CEO she builds and executes strategy, focuses on operational excellence, and collaborates with the Teachers’ Retirement Board; she has advanced sustainable business practices and championed a culture of innovation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in management from Golden Gate University, an MIT executive certificate in technology operations and value chain management, and HR/labor certificates from Golden Gate University and UC Davis, and serves on the board of the International Corporate Governance Network.

Chan has been CIO since July 2024 after joining as Deputy CIO in August 2018. His official biography states he leads an investment staff of more than 200 and oversees a portfolio valued at US$412.9 billion as of 31 July 2026. Prior roles include senior managing director at the University of California Regents (global equities across pension, endowment and working-capital pools), CIO of the Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System, and partner/portfolio manager roles in hedge fund partnerships. He is a CFA charterholder (MBA, Duke Fuqua; BA economics, UCLA) and serves on multiple industry advisory boards listed on his CalSTRS bio.

Other executive staff titles from the live executive-staff page (names and titles only; no private contacts): Lisa Blatnick, Chief Operating Officer; Brian J. Bartow, General Counsel; Ashish Jain, Chief Technology Officer; David Lamoureux, Chief Actuary (became chief actuary in March 2026 per his page summary); Melissa Norcia, Chief Administrative Officer; Teresa Schilling, Chief Public Affairs Officer; Julie Underwood, Chief Financial Officer; Jeff Zimmer, Chief Benefits Officer.

The Teachers’ Retirement Board has 12 members: three active CalSTRS members elected by the membership; one retired CalSTRS member appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate; three public representatives appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate; one school board representative appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate; and four ex officio members (Director of Finance, State Controller, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Treasurer). Non-ex-officio members serve four-year terms. Five standing committees: Appeals, Audits and Risk Management, Board Governance, Compensation, and Investments. As of the June 1, 2026 key-personnel listing and board-members pages: Denise Bradford (Board Chair; K–12 classroom teacher; elected; term 1/1/24–12/31/27); Sharon Hendricks (Board Vice Chair; community college instructor; elected; term 1/1/24–12/31/27); members including Karen Yamamoto, Harry M. Keiley, Steve Juarez, Ken Tang, and Michael Gunning (public representative; term 2/27/26–12/31/29); ex officio Malia M. Cohen (State Controller), Joe Stephenshaw (Director of Finance), Fiona Ma (State Treasurer), and Tony Thurmond (Superintendent of Public Instruction), with named delegates as listed on the key-personnel page.

Investment key personnel listed as of June 1, 2026 (selection; not exhaustive) include Senior Investment Directors April Wilcox, Geraldine Jimenez, and Kirsty Jenkinson; Directors David Murphy (Global Equity), Julie Donegan (Real Estate), Nicholas Abel (Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies), Margot Wirth (Private Equity), Rosemary Lucchesini (Fixed Income), and Puneet Kohli (Risk Mitigating Strategies); plus heads of Investment Operations and Investment Performance & Compliance. This profile does not invent seats or invent person SSR links for individuals without verified 200 pages.

Investment philosophy

CalSTRS publishes formal Investment Beliefs as a foundational framework for policy leaders and investment decision-makers. Official language states the beliefs help guide development of policies, procedures, and investment plans and, externally, help members and stakeholders evaluate the investment program. Belief 1: diversification strengthens the fund and improves the risk-adjusted profile of the portfolio. Belief 2: global public investment markets are largely, but not completely, efficient—historically a large percentage of the portfolio has been passively or semi-passively managed (official text cites approximately 80% of publicly traded assets in that framing), while certain market segments remain investable for net-of-fee excess return by a well-resourced investor.

Strategic asset allocation is set by the Teachers’ Retirement Board and implemented by the Investment branch under the CIO. The portfolio is organized into Public Equity, Fixed Income, Real Estate, Private Equity, Risk Mitigating Strategies (RMS), Inflation Sensitive, Cash/Liquidity, Collaborative Strategies, and Strategic Overlay, with Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies (SISS) capital appearing as a cross-cutting public/private sleeve (US$3,818 million footnote on the July 2026 portfolio page). ACFR Investment overview language emphasizes a diversified portfolio approach and readiness to weather a variety of market environments under the board-approved strategic asset allocation.

FY2024–25 market context from the ACFR Investment section (descriptive, not a forecast): U.S. equities rose through much of the fiscal year with a correction around announced tariff measures in early April, then rallied amid AI/technology enthusiasm; developed international markets posted more modest gains; Chinese equities were volatile with policy support; the Federal Reserve continued an easing cycle after September 2024 cuts; inflation stayed moderate near 3% over the period described. The ACFR notes that the annual report captures only one point in time (30 June 2025) and directs readers to CalSTRS.com for more current class-level information and videos.

Risk management tooling cited in the May 2026 Portfolio Risk Report includes the BlackRock Aladdin system for total-plan risk. The report’s leverage snapshot framework tracks total fund gross leverage, cash, and net leverage as percentages of total fund assets (prior quarter’s December 2025 risk report published illustrative notional figures; researchers should open the dated PDF for exact leverage lines rather than relying on secondary paraphrase).

Under CIO Scott Chan, investment staff of more than 200 manage internal and external mandates across the classes above. Official key-personnel pages list portfolio managers and senior portfolio managers by name for transparency around staff who may be involved with investment decisions; this UAO profile does not reproduce that full roster as a phone directory and does not invent reporting lines beyond titles published on calstrs.com.

Climate / ESG / ethics

In September 2021 the Teachers’ Retirement Board pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the CalSTRS Investment Portfolio by 2050, or sooner. The board later adopted a science-based interim goal of reducing emissions from the portfolio by 50% by 2030. Official Path to Net Zero language frames climate change as presenting material risks to the portfolio and stresses the need for consistent, accurate, comparable company data to mitigate climate-related risk and measure emissions.

The net zero strategy is described as a total-fund approach with three pillars: (1) managing and reducing portfolio emissions; (2) influencing policymakers, companies, and financial markets to accelerate the global low-carbon transition; and (3) increasing investments in climate solutions. Managing emissions uses science-based tools aligned with Paris Agreement language; stewardship and engagement remain central; climate-solutions investing is pursued subject to risk-return goals.

The Sustainable Investment and Stewardship Strategies (SISS) program supports the mission through three avenues on the sustainable-investing page: the SISS Investment Portfolio (capital allocated to investments that deliver financial performance while creating positive sustainability outcomes); Path to Net Zero collaboration across asset classes; and stewardship and strategic relations promoting long-term sustainable business practices and public policies. Nicholas Abel is listed as Director, Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies, on the June 2026 key-personnel page.

Broader sustainability (organizational, not only portfolio): ACFR describes organizational sustainability as decisions ensuring member financial security and organizational viability—well-governed funding and investment strategies, strategic/business plans, investment beliefs, stewardship priorities, and corporate governance principles. The headquarters campus is LEED-certified with on-site renewable energy, climate-appropriate landscaping, chemical-free construction/cleaning preferences, recycling, GHG reporting, and environmentally preferred purchasing. About-page sustainability language defines sustainability as the framework governing organizational business culture, integrated into everyday operations.

Ethics and ‘pay to play’ controls: CalSTRS Campaign Contribution Regulations (Title 5, California Code of Regulations, Sections 24010–24013) underscore commitment to high ethical standards and guarding against the appearance of pay-to-play on investment decisions; official materials note these regulations extend to specified statewide offices and candidates. Corporate Governance Principles and Investment Beliefs are published for external evaluation of the investment program.

Performance & reporting

Fiscal year 2024–25 (ACFR, as of 30 June 2025): portfolio generated an 8.5% time-weighted net return, above the 7.0% actuarial rate used for funding and approximately 10 basis points above the policy benchmark. As a long-term investor, CalSTRS reported a 9.4% five-year annualized return with 76 basis points of alpha annually over five years. ACFR Table 1 shows net asset value of investments of US$367,673 million at 30 June 2025 (prior years in the same chart series include US$341,402M at 2024 and US$315,631M at 2023). Table 2’s ten-year annual return series shows FY2025 at 8.5% versus a 7.00% assumed actuarial rate line for recent years.

Calendar year / semi-annual (as of 31 December 2025): Total Portfolio return 13.0% net of manager fees versus Policy Benchmark 12.7% (+0.3 pp), trailing the Reference Portfolio Benchmark (70% MSCI ACWI IMI / 30% Bloomberg Aggregate) by 4.6 pp and the State Street median fund (>$10B) by 0.4 pp (61st percentile in that universe per the summary). Trailing net returns: 10-year 9.0%, 5-year 7.7%, 3-year 9.9%, 1-year 13.0%. Class one-year net examples from the same summary: Total Public Equity 22.8% (BM 22.1%); Fixed Income 7.7% (BM 7.4%); Private Equity 11.4% (BM 10.1%); Real Estate 0.7% (BM 3.2%); Inflation Sensitive 10.6% (BM 7.6%); RMS 4.5% (BM 6.5%); Collaborative Strategies 4.2% (BM 6.2%).

ACFR Table 4 class returns (time-weighted net, as of 30 June 2025): Public Equity 16.3% 1-year / 13.8% 5-year / 10.3% 10-year (custom index 16.0% / 13.4% / 10.1%); Fixed Income 6.5% / −0.1% / 2.3%; Real Estate −3.0% 1-year / 3.2% 5-year / 6.0% 10-year. Researchers should open the ACFR PDF for full class rows and footnotes (including Real Estate methodology notes).

Transparency stack: Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (GFOA-oriented public pension ACFR); semi-annual and quarterly investment reports posted to calstrs.com; Investment Committee and Teachers’ Retirement Board agenda packets (including Portfolio Risk Reports and Meketa/Callan/State Street performance summaries); portfolio holdings listings by investment type; Private Equity and Real Estate performance pages; Board meeting video archive on YouTube (@myCalSTRS); actuarial valuations and Review of Funding Levels and Risks reports; five-year Funding Plan progress reports to the Legislature (second progress report June 2024). Independent auditor’s report and Milliman actuarial work are folded into board packets and the ACFR actuarial section.

Controversies & debates

Official attributable framing first. CalSTRS’ own materials foreground the Funding Plan’s shared-responsibility design (members, employers, State) and the board’s repeated choice to retain contribution rates even when valuations might mathematically support reductions—explicitly to maintain rate stability, improve funding faster, and reduce the chance of future rate increases (May 2026 actuarial item and funded-status news). That is an official policy debate inside the board’s limited rate-setting authority, not an external allegation.

Climate and stewardship debates are likewise framed officially as fiduciary risk management: the net zero pledge and 2030 interim goal are board actions; Path to Net Zero language ties climate risk to portfolio resilience for educators who do not receive Social Security for CalSTRS-covered service. Campaign contribution / pay-to-play regulations are presented as preventive ethics infrastructure extending to statewide offices.

Member-operations issues disclosed on the homepage during research included elevated call volumes after a myCalSTRS portal update; warnings about impersonators posing as CalSTRS representatives; and State Controller’s Office changes to paper benefit-check design. These are operational communications, not investment controversies.

Secondary press often compares CalSTRS and CalPERS returns, funded ratios, or CIO transitions (e.g., Scott Chan succeeding long-tenured CIO Chris Ailman in 2024). This profile treats such comparisons as secondary unless restated in CalSTRS primaries; leadership and AUM claims here follow live calstrs.com and dated board PDFs only. No invented scandal narratives.

Timeline

  • 1913 — CalSTRS established by law; began serving about 15,000 active and 120 retired members (ACFR letter).
  • June 2014 — CalSTRS Funding Plan / AB 1469 shared contribution schedule toward full DB funding by 2046.
  • 2008 / 2013 / 2021 — Cassandra Lichnock joins (HR EO), becomes COO (2013), appointed CEO (2021).
  • August 2018 — Scott Chan joins as Deputy CIO.
  • September 2021 — Board pledges net zero portfolio GHG by 2050 or sooner; later adopts 50% interim reduction by 2030.
  • July 2024 — Scott Chan becomes CIO.
  • 30 June 2025 — ACFR year-end: fiduciary net position US$373.2B; investment portfolio US$367.7B; TW net return 8.5%; membership 1,054,175.
  • 31 December 2025 — Total Portfolio US$392.2B; CY2025 return 13.0%.
  • March 2026 — David Lamoureux becomes Chief Actuary (executive-staff page).
  • 31 March 2026 — Portfolio Risk Report: estimated assets US$390.6B.
  • May 2026 — Board keeps FY2026–27 contribution rates; DB funded ratio 79.3% presented for 30 Jun 2025 valuation.
  • 31 July 2026 — Investment-portfolio page / CIO bio: ~US$412.9B.

Annex: Dated AUM series

Researchers frequently conflate CalSTRS ‘AUM’ across fiscal ACFR net position, investment NAV, mid-year board estimates, and the live web portfolio table. This annex restates the opened primary series with sourcing discipline.

31 March 2026 — US$390.6 billion (estimated). INV 2026-05 Item 05.01, Investment Committee Portfolio Risk Report for the May 27, 2026 committee meeting, Chart 1 ‘Investment portfolio as of March 31, 2026,’ labels ‘Assets of $390.6 billion est.’ This is the figure aligned to the UAO INST seed for rank-19 shipping and should be preferred when a Q1 2026 board-pack estimate is required.

31 December 2025 — US$392.2 billion. INV 2026-03 Item 05a.02 Semi-Annual Performance Report Summary states the Total Portfolio was valued at $392.2 billion as of December 31, 2025, with a table cell of 392,203 (US$ millions). Net of fees and contributions/benefits, the portfolio increased $42.5 billion over calendar 2025 and $24.5 billion over the latest six months in that summary.

31 July 2026 — approximately US$412.9 billion. The public investment-portfolio page states CalSTRS is the largest educator-only pension fund in the world with assets totaling approximately $412.9 billion as of July 31, 2026, and the NAV table totals 412,934 (US$ millions). Scott Chan’s official biography repeats the same July 31, 2026 portfolio value while noting investment staff of more than 200.

30 June 2025 — US$367.7 billion investment portfolio / US$373.2 billion fiduciary net position. ACFR Investment section pie chart titled ‘Total Investment Portfolio of $367.7 billion’; letter of transmittal cites net position of $373.2 billion. Table 1 ‘Net asset value of investments’ shows $367,673 million for fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, continuing a decade chart from $188,651 million in 2016 through intervening years ($341,402M in 2024). Money-weighted vs time-weighted distinctions appear in ACFR schedules; cite the metric named in the source table.

When INST, press, or peer databases show a single undifferentiated ‘CalSTRS AUM,’ map it back to one of the dated rows above before publishing. This UAO profile’s headline institutional figure for rank 19 follows the 31 March 2026 US$390.6B board risk report estimate, with July 2026 and FY2025 ACFR figures disclosed alongside.

Annex: Returns & allocation

FY2024–25 ACFR narrative: 8.5% net time-weighted return; ~+10 bps vs policy benchmark; above 7.0% actuarial assumption; 9.4% five-year annualized with 76 bps annual alpha. Table 3 time-weighted net-of-fees chart (as of 30 June 2025) shows total-fund bars versus custom benchmark across 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-, 20-, and 30-year windows (approximate chart heights include 8.5% vs 8.4% at 1 year and 9.4% vs 8.6% at 5 years—open the PDF for precise companion benchmark labels).

Semi-annual summary (31 December 2025) Total Portfolio vs Policy Benchmark vs State Street median vs Reference Portfolio:

HorizonTotal PortfolioPolicy BMSt. Street median >$10BReference Portfolio
1-year13.0%12.7%13.4%17.6%
3-year9.9%9.3%11.5%15.3%
5-year7.7%7.1%8.3%7.4%
10-year9.0%8.4%9.1%8.7%

Actual vs target allocations in that December 2025 summary (US$ millions / %): Total Public Equity 164,515 / 42% (target 40%); Fixed Income 49,804 / 13% (13%); Private Markets aggregate 106,364 / 27% (29%) including Real Estate 48,949 / 12% (15%) and Private Equity 57,414 / 15% (14%); Inflation Sensitive 27,429 / 7% (6%); RMS 30,161 / 8% (10%); Collaborative Strategies 6,372 / 2% (0%); Cash 7,208 / 2% (2%); Strategic Overlay 350 / 0% (0%).

June 30, 2025 ACFR asset-allocation pie (Total Investment Portfolio US$367.7B) listed approximate weights including Public Equity 41.2%, Private Equity 15.1%, Real Estate 12.8%, Fixed Income 12.0%, Risk Mitigating Strategies 7.3%, Inflation Sensitive 6.9%, Cash/Liquidity 2.8%, Collaborative Strategies (remainder per chart), and Strategic Overlay 0.1%. Compare carefully to March 2026 and July 2026 snapshots—weights move with markets and rebalancing.

Annex: Funding plan & rates

The CalSTRS Funding Plan (AB 1469, June 2014) established a schedule of contribution rate increases shared among members, employers, and the State of California to reach full funding of the Defined Benefit Program by 2046. Official materials call it a model of shared responsibility that works with investment performance toward long-term sustainability. The board receives formal funding assessments twice a year: the spring actuarial valuation and the fall Review of Funding Levels and Risks; Audits and Risk Management Committee updates cover funding-related enterprise risks; statute requires a Legislature progress report every five years (second report June 2024).

June 30, 2025 valuation key results versus June 30, 2024:

Metric30 Jun 202530 Jun 2024
Actuarial obligationUS$395.5BUS$380.5B
Actuarial value of assetsUS$313.5BUS$291.8B
Unfunded actuarial obligationUS$82.0BUS$88.7B
Funded ratio79.3%76.7%

Improvement drivers cited by staff: investment returns above the 7% long-term assumption for the last two years, plus employer and state contributions under the funding plan. The 79.3% funded ratio exceeded the original plan’s projected 70.2% for 30 June 2025 by about nine percentage points. About US$665 million of the UAO decrease was attributed to the prior decision not to reduce employer and state contribution rates. Funded status has risen for eight consecutive years and by nearly 17 percentage points since 2017 (62.6% to 79.3%).

May 2026 board action — recommended FY 2026–27 rates (Option 1, keep existing levels): state supplemental contribution rate 6.311%; employer supplemental contribution rate 10.850%; normal cost for 2% at 62 members 18.345%. If adopted (and official news confirms the board agreed to keep rates), total contribution rates for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 remain: State 10.828%; Employers 19.1%; CalSTRS 2% at 60 members 10.250%; CalSTRS 2% at 62 members 10.205%. Fifth consecutive year without changing those employer/state rates, per the funded-status news item.

Annex: SISS & net zero

Sustainable Investment and Stewardship Strategies is both an investment sleeve and a stewardship platform. Official sustainable-investing copy states the Teachers’ Retirement Board understands that long-term value creation includes incorporating sustainability considerations into portfolio management, and that SISS supports the mission through the SISS Investment Portfolio, Path to Net Zero work across asset classes, and stewardship/strategic relations.

Path to Net Zero pillars restated from the official page: manage and reduce emissions from companies and assets in the portfolio using science-based measurement aligned with Paris language; influence policymakers, companies, and financial markets to speed the low-carbon transition; increase climate-solutions investments that meet risk-return goals. Recent-activity language on the same page notes Global Equity implementation steps such as allocating a portion of the portfolio under an emissions-reduction strategy (open the live page for the latest percentage and mandate details before citing operational figures beyond the board pledges).

July 2026 portfolio footnote: SISS public and private investments total US$3,818 million within the marked Public Equity, Real Estate, Private Equity, and Collaborative Strategies lines. Net zero is a total-fund pledge (2050 or sooner; 50% by 2030 interim), not solely a SISS-sleeve target.

Investment Beliefs and Corporate Governance Principles supply the published normative framework for decision-makers and external observers. Campaign contribution regulations (5 CCR 24010–24013) are the ethics counterpart on the investment-relationship side.

Annex: Membership & operations

ACFR letter of transmittal (December 1, 2025): from 15,000 active and 120 retired members at inception to more than one million members and beneficiaries; total membership figure 1,054,175 as of June 30, 2025; ~1,800 education employers. Hybrid structure: Defined Benefit Program; Defined Benefit Supplement; Cash Balance Benefit Program; voluntary CalSTRS Pension2® 403(b), Roth 403(b), 457(b), and Roth 457(b); disability and survivor benefits; Medicare Premium Payment (MPP) postemployment health program.

Member demographics highlighted for financial-planning uniqueness: predominantly female (over 70%); more than 25 years in education; retire at age 61 on average; longevity above general U.S. population (477 members more than 100 years old in the ACFR letter’s statistic); no Social Security for CalSTRS-covered education service; possible lack of employer-funded health insurance after 65. FY2024–25 retirees received on average 59% of highest salary—hence official push for early supplemental savings, webinars, workshops, calculators, and 403bCompare.com fee comparison.

Workforce: more than 1,450 staff as of June 30, 2025; premier-employer language on attraction, retention, succession; cybersecurity framed as organizational sustainability. Pension Solution is described as a multiyear modernization replacing the legacy pension administration system. Member service centers (seven, plus satellites) provide personalized retirement planning services. Homepage operational notices during research: myCalSTRS portal update and call-volume impacts; paper benefit-check redesign by the State Controller’s Office; webinars across career stages; impersonator warnings.

Annex: Board composition

Composition rules (About / board-members / at-a-glance): 12 members — three member-elected active educators; one retired member appointed by the Governor and Senate-confirmed; three public representatives appointed by the Governor and Senate-confirmed; one school board representative appointed by the Governor and Senate-confirmed; four ex officio (Finance Director, Controller, SPI, Treasurer). Four-year terms for non-ex-officio members. Committees: Appeals; Audits and Risk Management; Board Governance; Compensation; Investments.

Chair Denise Bradford — K–12 classroom teacher, Saddleback Valley Unified; elected; term 1/1/24–12/31/27. Vice Chair Sharon Hendricks — communication studies faculty, Los Angeles City College; elected; same term window. Michael Gunning — public representative; term 2/27/26–12/31/29. Steve Juarez — public representative; term 9/24/24–12/31/27. Ex officio profiles on board-members pages include Controller Malia M. Cohen (elected 2022). Delegates for ex officio offices are named on the key-personnel page (e.g., Regina Evans, Deborah Gallegos, David Oppenheim for Controller; Michele Perrault, Jennifer Whitaker for Finance; Patrick Henning for Treasurer; Len Garfinkel, Geqigula (GQ) Dlamini, Dean Patterson for SPI)—titles and names only.

Board meetings occur several times a year at CalSTRS Headquarters in West Sacramento; agendas, highlights, and YouTube video archives are public. The board publishes a Board Governance Manual and accepts written or verbal public comment. This profile does not invent election outcomes or appointment dates beyond those on opened board-members / key-personnel pages.

Annex: ACFR letter fold (FY2024–25)

The December 1, 2025 letter of transmittal accompanying the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025 is the system’s primary narrative bridge between financial statements and stakeholder communication. It restates the 1913 origin story, the hybrid plan architecture, and the fiduciary posture that “we’re here for our members long after they’ve retired from their careers in education.” Net position of US$373.2 billion as of June 30, 2025 anchors the scale claim that CalSTRS is the largest educator-only pension fund in the world.

Member-relationship language in the letter emphasizes a career-long service model: publications, webinars, in-person workshops, videos, newsletters and calculators help members understand early saving; Pension2® supplies low-cost 403(b)/Roth 403(b)/457(b)/Roth 457(b) options; 403bCompare.com provides fee comparisons at no cost to members. These operational programs sit beside the investment portfolio as part of the same retirement-security mandate, especially because CalSTRS-covered education service generally does not earn Social Security.

Major initiatives summarized in the letter include organizational sustainability (funding plan, investment beliefs, stewardship priorities, corporate governance principles, net zero pledge), operational campus sustainability (LEED-certified headquarters with on-site renewables and related practices), workforce strategies for more than 1,450 staff, cybersecurity as resiliency, and Pension Solution modernization of pension administration. Each initiative is presented as supporting long-term payment of benefits rather than as a separate political program.

Investment performance language in the letter aligns with the Investment section: 8.5% net time-weighted return for FY2024–25, above the 7.0% actuarial assumption despite the inflation and rate environment described in the narrative. Readers are directed to asset-class detail elsewhere in the ACFR and on CalSTRS.com for movements after the June 30 measurement date.

Governance pages of the ACFR introductory section list the Teachers’ Retirement Board and executive staff as of the report date and include awards/recognition notes. This UAO profile treats those lists as contemporaneous to June 30, 2025 / publication in December 2025 and prefers live calstrs.com pages for post-ACFR leadership changes (for example, Chief Actuary David Lamoureux’s March 2026 appointment and the July 2026 portfolio value on the CIO bio).

Annex: Investment Beliefs detail

CalSTRS Investment Beliefs are published as a foundational framework after “several years of education, research and discussion,” per the official Investment Beliefs page. Globally, large institutional investors have used belief statements to trim portfolio ideas incongruent with their fiduciary view and to help members evaluate the investment program. CalSTRS positions its beliefs similarly for internal policy leaders and external stakeholders.

Belief 1 — diversification strengthens the fund — is the classic risk-adjusted portfolio argument: diversification improves the risk-adjusted profile. In practice this appears in the multi-class structure spanning public equity, private equity, real estate, fixed income, inflation-sensitive assets, risk-mitigating strategies, collaborative strategies, cash, and overlays, rather than a single-asset reference portfolio (the semi-annual materials explicitly compare against a 70/30 Reference Portfolio for context).

Belief 2 — global public markets are largely but not completely efficient — explains the historical tilt toward passive or semi-passive management for a large share of publicly traded assets (official text references approximately 80% in that framing) while reserving active risk budget for segments where information processing is more challenging and costly. That belief is consistent with FY2025 and CY2025 results that show modest policy-benchmark outperformance at the total-fund level alongside larger dispersions inside private markets and real estate.

Additional belief statements on the live page continue the framework for liquidity, risk, costs, and sustainability considerations. Researchers should open the current Investment Beliefs page for the full numbered list rather than relying on secondary paraphrases; this profile folds Beliefs 1–2 in detail because they are the statements most directly evidenced in opened allocation and performance primaries.

Corporate Governance Principles complement the beliefs by stating standards for fair and open governance of portfolio companies. Together with SISS stewardship, they form the published engagement architecture. Campaign contribution regulations sit on the manager-relationship side of the same ethics stack.

Annex: Risk, leverage & geography

The May 2026 Portfolio Risk Report (period ending March 31, 2026) is the primary opened source for near-dated risk composition. Using BlackRock Aladdin, staff reported that roughly 63% of total portfolio risk came from Public Equity despite an approximate 41% asset weight, and that Public Equity plus Private Equity together represented about 79% of portfolio risk. The report’s qualitative note states that U.S.–Iranian hostilities beginning in February 2026 did not have a significant impact on portfolio risk in March—an official risk observation tied to that quarter’s packet.

Asset-allocation history charts in the same report show three years of monthly weights across Cash, Collaborative Strategies, RMS, Inflation Sensitive, Real Estate, Fixed Income, Private Equity, and Total Public Equity—useful for seeing how the March 2026 mix (Public Equity 40.5%, Private Equity 14.7%, Real Estate 12.6%, Fixed Income 12.9%, RMS 8.1%, Inflation Sensitive 7.4%, Cash 2.0%, Collaborative Strategies 1.8%, Strategic Overlay 0.1%) sits in a multi-year path rather than as a one-day snapshot.

Country exposure: about 75.4% United States, 2.3% Japan, with China as the fifth-largest country exposure and Switzerland/Netherlands/Australia among other top-ten names in the chart narrative. Parent-level exposures concentrate in U.S. government debt at 10.8% of the total fund, then mega-cap technology and related names (Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Broadcom, TSMC, Meta, Tesla) at low-single-digit or sub-1% weights each. That concentration profile is typical of a U.S.-heavy public equity overweight but is stated here only as the report’s top-ten list, not as a portfolio recommendation.

Liquidity and leverage pages in the risk report (fund liquidity as of March 31, 2026; total fund leverage as of March 31, 2026) provide the board with monitoring metrics. A prior-quarter risk report (December 31, 2025) published illustrative gross leverage, cash, and net leverage notionals; users needing precise March 2026 leverage percentages should read the May packet tables directly rather than importing December figures forward.

Annex: Asset-class playbooks (official labels)

Public Equity / Total Public Equity. Largest growth engine and largest risk contributor. Includes Global Equity Public, SISS public equity, and Innovation Global Equity per risk-report footnote. CY2025 one-year net return 22.8% vs 22.1% policy benchmark in the semi-annual summary; FY2025 ACFR Table 4 shows 16.3% one-year net vs 16.0% custom index. July 2026 web table: overweight versus 39% target (actual 43.07%).

Private Equity. Structural return-seeking sleeve; March 2026 weight 14.7%; July 2026 NAV US$56.6B (13.72% vs 14% target). CY2025 one-year net 11.4% vs 10.1% benchmark in the semi-annual summary. Director Margot Wirth is named on key personnel.

Real Estate. Persistently underweight versus the 15% policy target in both December 2025 (12%) and July 2026 (12.01%) snapshots; CY2025 one-year net 0.7% trailing its 3.2% benchmark; FY2025 ACFR Table 4 shows −3.0% one-year. Director Julie Donegan is named on key personnel. Private markets aggregate (RE + PE and related) was 27% vs 29% target at year-end 2025.

Fixed Income. Near policy weight (~13%) across snapshots; CY2025 one-year net 7.7% vs 7.4%; FY2025 ACFR 6.5% one-year vs 6.3% U.S. Debt Custom Index. Director Rosemary Lucchesini named.

Risk Mitigating Strategies (RMS). Underweight versus 10% target in December 2025 (8%) and July 2026 (8.46%); CY2025 one-year net 4.5% vs 6.5% benchmark (absolute-return class prior to 7/1/16 per footnote). Director Puneet Kohli named.

Inflation Sensitive. Slight overweight vs ~6–7% targets; CY2025 one-year net 10.6% vs 7.6% benchmark. Designed for inflation-linked and real-asset-adjacent exposures per ACFR MDA language.

Collaborative Strategies. Small but visible sleeve (about 2% in recent snapshots; policy target often 0% with 0–5% range); formerly Innovative Strategies class prior to 5/1/2024 per semi-annual footnote. CY2025 one-year net 4.2% vs 6.2% benchmark.

Cash / Liquidity and Strategic Overlay. Cash near 1–3% depending on date; Strategic Overlay includes currency and derivatives overlays and can show small positive or negative contribution (CY2025 one-year −0.6% in the semi-annual table).

Annex: California peer context (non-invented)

UAO ships CalSTRS (rank 19) after CalPERS (rank 13) as the second California public-pension elite profile. Both are component units of the State of California with statutory boards, hybrid or multi-program benefit structures, and multi-hundred-billion USD portfolios—but they are not the same mandate. CalPERS covers public employees broadly (PERF and health), while CalSTRS is educator-only and emphasizes the absence of Social Security for covered service. Funded-status ratios in the high-70% range appear in both systems’ 2025 communications, but actuarial bases, discount rates, and contribution statutes differ; this profile does not equate 79.3% CalSTRS DB funded status with CalPERS PERF funded-status estimates.

Leadership models differ: CalSTRS Teachers’ Retirement Board (12 members with educator elections and statewide ex officios) versus CalPERS Board of Administration. Investment organizations both run large internal staffs with external managers; CalSTRS discloses >200 investment staff under CIO Scott Chan, while CalPERS cites >300 investment professionals in its own materials. Cross-links: CalPERS elite profile.

Any UAO Influence Index score remains an editorial composite for navigation among Top 100 institutions—not a credit rating, funded-status substitute, or official CalSTRS metric.

Annex: Reporting cadence & outbound checklist

Outbound report checklist for analysts refreshing this profile:

  • Live investment-portfolio table (month-stamped NAV and weights).
  • Latest Investment Committee Portfolio Risk Report PDF (assets estimate, risk decomposition, country/issuer exposures, liquidity/leverage).
  • Latest semi-annual / quarterly performance summary (Total Portfolio value, net returns vs Policy / Reference / peer median, class attribution).
  • Latest ACFR (fiduciary net position, NAV Table 1, time-weighted Tables 2–4, membership, auditor opinion).
  • Latest DB actuarial valuation board item (funded ratio, UAO, contribution-rate recommendations).
  • Funded-status / Board Highlights news items confirming rate actions.
  • Path to Net Zero / SISS pages for pledge language and any new interim metrics.
  • Executive-staff and key-personnel pages for CEO/CIO/board chair verification before updating person SSR links.
  • YouTube @myCalSTRS board and investment committee archives for official VideoObject candidates.

Daily-refresh automation remains disabled for this registry institution ship. Corrections to UAO’s rendering: info@universalassetowners.com.

Annex: Net zero operations & stewardship practice

Official Path to Net Zero copy states CalSTRS’ fiduciary duty to protect members’ and beneficiaries’ best interests by ensuring the portfolio’s long-term financial success, and that climate change presents material risks requiring consistent, accurate, comparable data from portfolio companies. CalSTRS says it will continue to use its voice alongside fellow institutional investors to hold companies accountable for climate-related disclosures, protecting the Teachers’ Retirement Fund on behalf of educators and their beneficiaries.

Net zero is defined on the page as the amount of greenhouse gases emitted being offset by the amount taken away. The Board’s pledges acknowledge climate challenges and aim to keep the portfolio resilient and sustainable. Integration is described as a total-fund approach rather than a siloed ESG overlay: emissions management, policy/company/market influence, and climate-solutions capital deployment operate across Public Equity, Private Equity, Real Estate, Fixed Income, and other classes via collaboration with SISS.

Managing and reducing emissions uses science-based measurement tools with a goal of aligning emissions reductions with the Paris Climate Agreement. Measurements are reported regularly and used to inform investment decisions and engagement priorities. Stewardship and engagement remain primary levers alongside climate-solutions investing that further reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related portfolio risks.

Recent-activity language on the Path to Net Zero page references Global Equity team implementation of an emissions-reduction strategy by allocating a stated share of the relevant portfolio under that strategy—researchers should re-open the live page for the current percentage and mandate mechanics before citing operational figures beyond the durable board pledges (net zero by 2050 or sooner; 50% by 2030). This profile intentionally stops at board-level pledges plus qualitative pillars when a live operational metric may change between board cycles.

Stewardship and strategic relations, per the sustainable-investing hub, use CalSTRS’ influence as a significant global investor to promote long-term sustainable business practices and public policies while securing member trust and maintaining industry leadership. That soft-power channel sits beside hard capital allocation in the SISS Investment Portfolio, which is described as a source of long-term capital appreciation that opportunistically improves fund risk/return while seeking positive sustainability outcomes.

Annex: FY2024–25 market & MDA context

The ACFR Investment overview’s market narrative is a dated official description of the environment that produced the 8.5% FY2024–25 net return—not a forward outlook. U.S. equity markets continued a historic rise until a correction around announced sweeping tariffs (Liberation Day, April 2, in the ACFR’s wording), then rallied as agreement expectations and AI/technology infrastructure enthusiasm supported valuations. Developed international markets posted positive but more modest returns amid sluggish European growth; Chinese equities were volatile but supported by policy and real-estate sentiment; global drivers included divergent central-bank paths, geopolitical tensions affecting energy and trade, and uneven regional growth.

The Federal Reserve maintained an easing cycle with several cuts after the September 2024 reduction, supporting equity valuations despite concentration concerns. Inflation stayed moderate near 3% and trended down in the period described; corporate earnings growth remained solid, particularly in technology and AI-related investments such as data centers, while consumer spending proved resilient. CalSTRS frames these conditions as the backdrop for diversified portfolio construction under the board’s strategic asset allocation.

Management’s discussion and analysis reinforces that time-weighted returns are the primary performance lens presented to the Investment Committee, while money-weighted investment return for the State Teachers’ Retirement Plan appears in required supplementary schedules. Benefit payments, contribution inflows, and net investment income drive the statement of changes in fiduciary net position; researchers comparing “return” headlines should confirm whether a citation is time-weighted, money-weighted, gross, or net of fees.

Allocation-of-investments charts in the MDA map statement-of-fiduciary-net-position classifications (for example, debt securities versus equity securities and other categories) and may differ from the strategic asset-allocation pie used by the Investment branch. Footnotes warn that recalculation from statement figures may differ due to rounding and that certain cash, payable, receivable, and reverse-repurchase items are reflected as such on the statement. Prefer the Investment section’s strategic classes when discussing policy weights; prefer the financial statement classification when reconciling to audited net position.

Annex: Why Social Security absence matters

Repeated official emphasis that CalSTRS-covered service is not eligible for Social Security is not marketing color—it is a structural design fact that shapes contribution rates, replacement-rate expectations, and supplemental-savings products. The ACFR letter’s member profile (majority female, long tenure, age-61 average retirement, above-average longevity, possible lack of employer health coverage after 65, ~59% of highest salary as average FY2024–25 retiree benefit) explains why the system invests heavily in education, counseling, Pension2®, and fee-comparison tools.

For asset owners and policymakers comparing international educator schemes, CalSTRS therefore combines a large defined-benefit core with an explicit DC/cash-balance periphery inside one fiduciary complex. The Funding Plan’s shared contribution increases among members, employers, and the State are the political-economy counterpart to the investment portfolio’s role as the largest long-run income source for benefits. Keeping employer and state rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive year (FY2026–27) is presented officially as risk management against future adverse investment outcomes, not as contribution relief.

UAO’s registry framing places CalSTRS among Top 100 elite institutions because its portfolio scale, board transparency, and stewardship program influence manager behavior and peer practice well beyond California’s education employers—while still remaining a statutory public pension, not a sovereign wealth fund.

Annex: Opened primaries log

Primary HTML opened and text-extracted for this ship (6 September 2026): calstrs.com homepage; about-calstrs; calstrs-at-a-glance; executive-staff; cassandra-lichnock; scott-chan; calstrs-key-personnel; teachers-retirement-board; board-members; investment-portfolio; sustainable-investing; path-to-net-zero; investment-beliefs; sustainability; funded-status-continues-to-rise-contribution-rates-remain-same.

Primary PDFs downloaded and text-extracted: INV 2026-05 Item 05.01 Portfolio Risk Report (March 31, 2026 assets US$390.6B est.); INV 2026-03 Item 05a.02 Semi-Annual Performance Summary (December 31, 2025 Total Portfolio US$392.2B; CY2025 13.0%); INV 2026-03 Item 03.01 Portfolio Risk Report (December 31, 2025 context); TRB 2026-05 Item 15a.00 actuarial valuation and contribution-rate recommendations; ACFR2024-25.pdf (letter, MDA, investment section Tables 1–4 and allocation narrative).

Video verification: YouTube oEmbed for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_sX1FT7G_Q returned author_name CalSTRS / author_url https://www.youtube.com/@myCalSTRS — accepted as official embed for VideoObject.

Person SSR verification: https://www.universalassetowners.com/registry/person/cassandra-lichnock/ and …/scott-chan/ both HTTP 200 with H1 matching names before inbound links were added.

Annex: Headquarters, ethics & public access

CalSTRS Headquarters is at 100 Waterfront Place, West Sacramento, CA 95605 (ACFR letter letterhead). Board meetings are held there several times each year, with live web streams and archived video on CalSTRS.com and the official YouTube channel. Public comment may be submitted in writing at any time or verbally at board or committee meetings under published procedures. The Board Governance Manual states the board’s commitment to leadership in governance for members and beneficiaries.

Appeals committee materials and precedential-decision designations under Government Code section 11425.60 provide a formal administrative-law channel for member disputes—distinct from Investment Committee market decisions but part of the same 12-member board’s oversight stack. Campaign contribution regulations remain the primary published control against pay-to-play appearances in investment relationships, extending to specified statewide officers and candidates even though the Governor does not make CalSTRS investment decisions.

Doing-business and procurement opportunities are posted on the site or via Cal eProcure; careers pages invite applications across business areas. This profile omits private staff emails and phone trees from member-service or procurement directories while retaining the public corrections address for UAO editorial errors: info@universalassetowners.com.

Currency note

For avoidance of doubt on currency and unit discipline: every asset and return figure in this profile is taken from a dated CalSTRS primary denominated in United States dollars. No invented USD translation from another currency is required. When multiple official series exist for nearby dates, the profile lists each series with its as-of date rather than averaging or silently substituting the largest headline number.

FAQ

What is CalSTRS?

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) is the largest educator-only public pension fund in the world and the second-largest pension fund in the United States. It is a component unit of the State of California, established in 1913, and provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits to more than one million California public school educators and their beneficiaries whose CalSTRS-covered service is generally not eligible for Social Security.

What is CalSTRS’ latest official investment portfolio value?

Cite dated series separately. The Investment Committee Portfolio Risk Report (INV 2026-05 Item 05.01) shows estimated investment portfolio assets of US$390.6 billion as of 31 March 2026. The semi-annual performance summary valued the Total Portfolio at US$392.2 billion as of 31 December 2025. The live investment-portfolio page and CIO bio cite approximately US$412.9 billion as of 31 July 2026. The FY2024–25 ACFR reports a Total Investment Portfolio of US$367.7 billion and fiduciary net position of US$373.2 billion as of 30 June 2025. Do not silently equate these figures.

What returns has CalSTRS published recently?

For calendar year 2025, the Total Portfolio returned 13.0% net of manager fees, outperforming the Policy Benchmark (12.7%) by 0.3 percentage points (semi-annual summary as of 31 December 2025). Multi-year net returns in that summary include 9.9% (3-year), 7.7% (5-year) and 9.0% (10-year). For fiscal year 2024–25, the ACFR reports an 8.5% time-weighted net return, above the 7.0% actuarial assumption and about 10 basis points above the policy benchmark, with a 9.4% five-year annualized return and 76 basis points of annual alpha.

Who is CEO and who is CIO?

Cassandra Lichnock is Chief Executive Officer (appointed 2021; first female CEO; joined CalSTRS in 2008). Scott Chan has been Chief Investment Officer since July 2024 after serving as Deputy CIO from August 2018. Both are listed on the live calstrs.com executive-staff pages as of 6 September 2026 research.

Who leads the Teachers’ Retirement Board?

As of the June 2026 key-personnel listing and board-members pages, Denise Bradford is Board Chair and Sharon Hendricks is Board Vice Chair. The 12-member board includes elected active members, a retired member and public/school-board appointees, plus four ex officio members (State Controller, Director of Finance, State Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction). The board appoints the CEO and CIO.

What is the Defined Benefit Program funded status?

The June 30, 2025 actuarial valuation shows a funded ratio of 79.3% on an actuarial-value basis (actuarial value of assets US$313.5 billion; actuarial obligation US$395.5 billion; unfunded actuarial obligation US$82.0 billion), up from 76.7% at June 30, 2024. Official materials note this is the eighth consecutive annual increase and ahead of the original Funding Plan projection of 70.2% for that date.

What contribution rates apply for FY 2026–27?

At its May 2026 meeting the Teachers’ Retirement Board kept employer and state contribution rates at existing levels for fiscal year 2026–27. Official totals cited: State 10.828%; Employers 19.1%; CalSTRS 2% at 60 members 10.250%; CalSTRS 2% at 62 members 10.205%. Staff recommended retaining rates to preserve stability and funding progress toward full funding by 2046.

What is CalSTRS’ net zero / climate pledge?

In September 2021 the Teachers’ Retirement Board pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the CalSTRS Investment Portfolio by 2050 or sooner, with a science-based interim goal of reducing portfolio emissions by 50% by 2030. The Path to Net Zero strategy has three pillars: manage and reduce portfolio emissions; influence policymakers, companies and markets; and increase investments in climate solutions. The Sustainable Investment and Stewardship Strategies (SISS) program supports this work.

How is the portfolio allocated?

As of 31 March 2026 (Portfolio Risk Report), approximate weights included Total Public Equity 40.5%, Private Equity 14.7%, Real Estate 12.6%, Fixed Income 12.9%, Risk Mitigating Strategies 8.1%, Inflation Sensitive 7.4%, Cash 2.0%, Collaborative Strategies 1.8% and Strategic Overlay 0.1%. The July 31, 2026 investment-portfolio page publishes NAV by class against current policy targets with ranges.

Why does this profile use Organization and GovernmentOrganization?

CalSTRS is a California public pension system and a component unit of the State of California administering statutory educator retirement benefits under the Teachers’ Retirement Law. This UAO profile models Organization + GovernmentOrganization, with sameAs limited to official calstrs.com / YouTube URLs.

Does this profile invent AUM or leadership seats?

No. Asset figures, returns, allocation weights, membership counts, board officers and executive titles are taken from dated official CalSTRS PDFs and HTML pages opened for this research pack. Private emails and phone directories from office listings are omitted. Prefer dated labels when multiple AUM series exist.

Where should corrections be sent?

Corrections: info@universalassetowners.com. Prefer official CalSTRS primaries over secondary press when figures conflict. Any UAO Influence Index is an editorial composite for navigation — not a credit rating or official CalSTRS metric.

Sources & further reading

Secondary press used only for non-numeric context (e.g., CIO succession announcements already confirmed on calstrs.com). Prefer primaries on conflict.

Official video

Official CalSTRS YouTube channel (@myCalSTRS) archive of the Teachers’ Retirement Board Regular Meeting of 28 May 2026 — the session that included actuarial valuation and contribution-rate actions described above. oEmbed author_name confirms CalSTRS.

Completeness note

This elite profile targets ~10,000 sourced words from opened CalSTRS primaries (ACFR 2025, Investment Committee risk and semi-annual performance PDFs, actuarial board item, funded-status news, and live About / board / executive / portfolio / sustainability HTML). Non-blocking expansions for later refreshes: full ACFR Table 4–9 holdings and broker tables; private-markets IRR pages; latest SISS emissions metrics beyond board pledges; complete board-member bios; PE/RE performance annexes. No filler inventing seats, phones, emails, or undated AUM.

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