Largest Public Pension Fund Earns Dismal 1 Percent

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The nation's largest public pension fund reported a dismal 1 percent return on its investments, a figure far short of projections that will likely add pressure on California's state and local governments to contribute more.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System on Monday reported its returns for the fiscal year that ended June 30. The 1 percent return is well below its projected annual return of 7.5 percent.

Chief Investment Officer Joe Dear says continued volatility in world markets and economies contributed to the fund's underperformance.

CalPERS, which has yet to recover from the recession, runs a $234 billion pension system for more than 1.6 million state employees, school employees and local government workers.

The returns are even lower than the teacher pension fund, which earned 1.8 percent from investments.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.