California Public Employees' Retirement System, the largest public pension fund in the US, may start investing in hedge funds again nearly nine years after its high-profile exit from the asset class.

California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the US, may start investing in hedge funds again nearly nine years after its high-profile exit from the asset class.

Speaking on Bloomberg TV earlier this week, CalPERS CIO Nicole Musicco said the Sacramento-based plan was reviewing its stance on hedge funds, having closed its $4bn program in 2014 over concerns around fees and complexity. 

“The hedge fund program at CalPERS was shut down prior to my arriving,” Musicco said. “We’re certainly re-looking at that as a strategy.”

A CalPERS spokesperson told Bloomberg that any hedge fund investments would be “opportunistic” and that plans for a new, formal hedge fund program were not “imminent”.

Musicco was appointed CalPERS CIO in February 2022.