May 17, 2000 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The $174 billion
California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), in
the first asset allocation shift since September 1997, voted
to increase its exposure to alternative
investments.
Its board voted to shift some holdings out of US and
international equities and into private equity and real
estate. Fixed income holdings will maintain at current
levels.
The board followed a staff recommendation (reported here
on May 12) that the fund:
cut US equities by 2 percentage points to 39% of
assets
cut international stocks by 1 percentage point to
19%
increased private equity to 6% from 4%
and increased real estate to 8% from 6%.
CalPERS’ staff projects a return of 9.6% a year for U.S.
equities over the next decade, compared to 13.5 % for
private “alternative investments” like venture capital and
buyout funds. They project real estate to return 8.5%.
April 5, 2001 - Equal pay for equal work seems a
pretty basic concept -- but the reality is another matter,
according to our readers. Overall 44% of respondents to our
survey felt that men and women were paid equally for the same
work. But the perception of reality was dramatically
different depending on the sex of the respondent. A whopping
78% of female respondents said "equal pay, no way" (or words
to that effect). A near mirror image 71% of male respondents
thought that pay was equal for equal work.
A number of respondents ? both men and women ? noted
that the real problem wasn’t pay. Rather a larger concern
was the “glass ceiling” that continues to bar many
qualified women from senior positions at a number of firms.
As one (male) reader noted, “Based on my observations, the
glass ceiling needs to be ratcheted down a couple of
notches to lessen the void between rank, pay and
competence.”
Those who questioned the validity of a pay gap
frequently challenged the true equality of the work. As one
reader noted, “I believe that many claims of gender pay
inequality are the result of (well-intentioned) amateurs
who somehow decide that a job predominantly filled by women
is “equal” to another job predominantly filled by men and
should therefore pay the same when, in fact, the two jobs
are not even close in their compensable
characteristics.”
Others noted the impact of the “mommy track” that often
pulls women from the workforce, or results in career
choices that (in the words of a reader) “clearly adversely
affects career development and thus compensation”.
Finally, one reader noted “We’ve come a long way, but
still have many miles to go. At least I don’t get chased
around the desk anymore, and I’m no longer asked if I’m
pregnant or planning to start a family soon when being
interviewed.”
Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey!
Mark your calendars for the SIA Savings, Retirement and
Estate Planning Conference May 2-4, at the New York
Marriott World Trade Center. PLAN SPONSOR’s
Editor-in-Chief, Charles Ruffel will be the keynote speaker
on the 4th. MORE details at EVENTS at
http://www.plansponsor.com/content/news/events/Index
.