CalPERS on the Brink of Insolvency

by Martin Armstrong

 
The largest public pension fund in the United States is the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) for civil servants. California is in a state of very serious insolvency. We strongly advise our client to get out before it is too late. I have been warning that CalPERS was on the verge of insolvency. I have warned that they were secretly lobbying Congress to seize all 401K private pensions and hand it to them to be managed. Mingling private money with the public would enable them to hold off insolvency a bit longer. Of course, CalPERS cannot manage the money they do have so why should anyone expect them to score a different performance with private money? Indeed, they would just rob private citizens to pay the pensions of state employees and politicians.
CALPERS has been making investments to be politically correct with the environment rather than looking at projects that are economically based. Then, CalPERS has been desperate to cover this and other facts up to deny the public and transparency. Then, because stocks they thought were overpriced last year, they moved to bonds buying right into the Bond Bubble. Clearly, California’s economy peaked right on target and ever since there has been a steady migration out of the state.
Meanwhile, Governor Jerry Brown has been more concerned about bucking the trend with Trump effectively threatening treason against the Constitution. The insolvency at CalPERS has exceeded $100,000 owed by every private citizen in California. It was $93,000every Californian owed back in 2016. In January 2017, Jerry Brown wanted a 42% increase in gas taxes to bailout CalPERS.
The pension crisis at CalPERS is getting closer by the day. The State looks to be totally bankrupt by 2021-2022. CalPERS has just decided to increase the contribution of local governments and cities to their fund. The cities say they are approaching bankruptcy because of rising subsidies, but CalPERS itself is approaching insolvency. The problem is that there really is no real reform in sight. The choice is clear – CUT pension benefits of government employees or RAISE TAXES!. CalPERS simply needs a bailout and very soon.
Board Member Steve Westly even told The Mercury News that a bailout was needed and soon. Currently, CalPERS manages approximately $350 billion of future pension claims of its members. Recently, CalPERS passed an amendment to the statutes, which resulted in higher contributions for the California municipalities. The amount of contributions has been increased several times over the past few years and this time the cities do not appear to be able to handle the increased costs.
Once CalPERS was 100% funded with assets under management. In fact, they had a surplus in the good old days before Quantitative Easing. Right now, the system no longer has more than two-thirds of future claims. CalPERS itself expects an annual return of 7 percent on its financial investments. Most pension funds run by the States are insolvent or on the brink. This is what I have been warning about that the Quantitative Easing set the stage for the next crisis – the Pension Crisis. The Illinois Pension Fund needs to borrow up to $ 107 billion to meet its payment obligations. Promises to state employees are over the top and off the charts. This is why Janet Yellen at the Fed kept trying to raise rates stating that interest rates had to be “normalized” for this was the crisis she knew was coming. And guess what – Europe is even worse and Draghi will not raise rates for fear that government will be unable to fund themselves.
There is NO WAY out of this crisis. The portfolio would have to be completely restructured and benefits reduced. Jerry Brown will do everything in his power to raise taxes and fees to try to hold CalPERS together. That is by no means a long-term solution.