California teachers’ pension fund could drop gun retailers next

By Christen Smith

The CalSTRS Board meeting on May 10, 2018. (Photo: CalSTRS/Facebook)
The nation’s second largest pension fund will reconsider its relationship with wholesalers and retailers of modern sporting rifles.
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System voted unanimously last week to enact a plan of engagement with the outdoor retailers in its portfolio — including Walmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Academy Ltd., Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. and Kroger — on the heels of high-profile mass shootings in Las Vegas and Parkland, Florida.
“As trusted fiduciaries for California’s … educators, the Teachers’ Retirement Board is dedicated to securing our members’ financial future during their retirement years,” said Harry Keiley, Chair of CalSTRS Investment Committee. “We’re taking steps to protect the CalSTRS portfolio, avoid reputational risk and increase the long-term value of the companies in which we invest, while also expressing sensitivity and empathy for the heinous gun-related tragedies that have impacted our country over the last several years.”
The pension fund manages over $225.5 billion and serves just under 1 million public school educators in California. It describes itself as one of the most vocal on issues of gun violence, voluntarily divesting from Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger and Co. in the months after

Source: Guns.com