Pension funds have been allowed to decay so far in such an unseen manner that there is now a universal aversion to peering behind the curtain because the naked truth is too terrible for anyone to process. That there are only a handful of small, independent journalists/bloggers willing to touch the subject, as is the case with this article, is a sign that there is fear at the highest levels of a national conversation on the issue which would be born from honest reporting by mainstream sources. The ramifications that stem from exposing the pension system as utterly broken beyond repair would threaten to topple the whole house of cards propping up modern society.

CalPERS in particular has become subject to multiple mini-scandals recently. The first of which is the competency of their latest CEO and the thoroughness of their hiring practices (1). Even the most charitable interpretation of her resume and skillset would arrive at the conclusion that Marcie Frost is a figurehead/cheerleader type CEO at best. Combine that with the recent announcement of Yu Ben Meng's return to CalPERS as CIO and there is certainly room for concern (2). Meng left CalPERS in 2015 to serve as deputy chief investment officer of China's $3.2 trillion State Administration of Foreign Exchange. We are now facing a situation where the nation's largest public pension is managed by a man considered so trustworthy by the country we are currently waging a trade war against that they placed him in charge of their largest capital fund. Even if everything is financially and legally above board, this kind of tone-deafanagemeny by the CalPERS board does not induce great confidence in their leadership or stewardship abilities.

(1): https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/08/marcie-frosts-shoddy...

(2): https://www.pionline.com/article/20190204/PRINT/190209951/ne...