San Diego Law Review
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Although public pension funds are to be held in trust for the exclusive benefit of pensioners and beneficiaries, some trustees are using the funds' tremendous financial clout to effect social change. This Article explores such "social investing" where public pension funds base their investments on factors such as a corporation's stand on environmental issues, corporate governance issues, and affirmative action. The author relates the various investment strategies of the California Public Employee Retirement System, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, and the Council of Institutional Investors, and identifies federal and state laws that are implicated by the pension funds' actions. She concludes that the use of public pension funds for this purpose violates numerous state and federal statutes as well as the United States Constitution.
Recommended Citation
Deborah J. Martin,
The Public Piggy Bank Goes to Market: Public Pension Fund Investment in Common Stock and Fund Trustees' Social Agenda,
29
San Diego L. Rev.
39
(1992).
Available at:
https://digital.sandiego.edu/sdlr/vol29/iss1/4