Last month, CalPERS voted to increase the compensation package it offers for two top executives as it tries out to replace outgoing Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos and to fill a vacancy at chief financial officer. The next chief investment officer will be able to earn $1.77 million in a single year, which is about 50 percent more than the executive in that post today can collect in wages and bonuses. CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund with a $355 billion portfolio. The investment officer is the highest paid executive at the pension fund. Board member Richard Costigan stated,
Our compensation is just too low. We’re not attracting quality candidates. The quality candidates who want to come here are negatively impacted by the salary levels.
The Board of Administration launched a salary survey in 2015 to reconsider the compensation it offers to top executives and asked consultant Grant Thornton to recommend a new pay range after Eliopoulos announced that he would leave CalPERS later this year. According to the Sacramento Bee, Eliopoulos had a salary range of $408,000 to $612,000 and he was eligible to earn a bonus equivalent to 75 percent of his wages. With the increased changes, the new investment officer will be able to earn a salary up to $707,500 and a bonus equivalent to 150 percent of base wages. CalPERS has been trying to fill the position of chief financial officer since last year and voted to increase the salary cap to $507,500, which is about $73,000 more than what was available to previous chief financial officers. We will have to wait and see who CalPERS decided to hire.
