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Capital Allocators · June 10, 2025 · 55m

Stephen Gilmore - CIO of CalPERS

Ted Seides

Stephen Gilmore, CIO of the largest public pension fund in the US ($500B+ AUM), discusses the unique challenges of managing public money under political scrutiny, media attention, and regulatory constraints that private investors never face.

Canon

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Public pension CIOs face environmental constraints that private investors don't — and must produce competitive returns anyway
Gilmore describes how CalPERS operates under political pressures (divestment mandates, media scrutiny, legislative constraints) that systematically reduce the investment opportunity set, yet must still generate returns sufficient to fund retirement promises.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini
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The courage to make unpopular decisions in public view
Gilmore describes the courage required to make contrarian investment decisions when every decision is subject to public records requests, media scrutiny, and political second-guessing.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini