The "Terminator" Ends Bill to Nix Private Equity Restrictions
Governor Arnold Schwarnegger has put the kabosh on a state legislative attempt to prohibit the state's two largest public pension funds from allocating to certain money managers. Arguing that AB 1967 puts undue strain on the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the Calfornia State Teachers' Retirement System by prohibiting money managers who invest in countries with human-rights issues. If adopted, The Carlyle Group (owned in part by the United Arab Emirates) would be off limits and thereby shut off private equity deal flow. In his April 9, 2008 op-ed piece, published by the Los Angeles Times, Governor Schwarnegger writes that measure AB 1967 would "cause a deep wound to our retirement funds and government programs when we can least afford it." Though he earlier signed measures to divest from Sudan and ban investing in Iran, the state's head politico avers that this bill would (a) cost CALPERS and CalSTRS billions of dollars in lost opportunities over the next 5 to 10 years (b) do little to discourage sovereign wealth fund investing overall and (c) be a fig leaf with respect to boosting human rights. Click to read "California can't afford a symbolic divestment that won't affect human rights."
On April 10, 2007, Sacremento Bee reporter Dale Kasler writes that Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) is withdrawing Assembly Bill 1967 "for the time being. (See "Lawmaker pulls bill to set human-rights limits on public pension fund investments.")
Of course, this does not eliminate an obvious question. Should the state (in an editorial sense, not a particular geographic locale) direct public plan investing?
