More than 600 investing professionals recently descended on Sacramento to attend Catalyst: California’s Emerging & Diverse Investment Manager Forum, hosted by the pension funds CalPERS and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, or CalSTRS.
The two-day forum united teams from CalPERS, CalSTRS, and leading investing firms with rising investment managers, consultants, and industry experts. The event buzzed with opportunities to network, forge relationships, and ignite fresh business ventures.
Attendees seized on the chance to dive into panel discussions, gaining insights on financial markets, entrepreneurship, investment strategies, and best practices.
Events like Catalyst enable CalPERS to discover and champion fresh, dynamic investing talent and managers from a variety of backgrounds, known in the industry as emerging and diverse managers.
Forging partnerships with these managers early on can give CalPERS access to potentially lucrative investments that larger, more established firms might overlook or pass up.
Expanding the pool of investment managers also boosts competition among firms vying for CalPERS’ business, driving down fees and other expenses, and can lead to stronger investment results — all of which fortify the pension fund and benefit its members.
José Luis Silva Vázquez, co-founder and managing partner of Dux Capital, said he’s been building relationships with CalPERS and CalSTRS for the past few years.
“I really enjoy meeting a lot of types of individuals here — consultants, other pension plans, other funds — the network is high-caliber,” he said. “My job is to bring our fund to a lot of people, and to help others, so this is an amazing place to be.
“I would say this is the most important institutional event that I’ve been to this year.”
The event’s keynote speakers included Jessica Alba, actress and founder of the consumer goods business The Honest Company, Carla Vernón, CEO of The Honest Company, and entrepreneur Richelieu Dennis, founder of Sundial Brands, a manufacturer of personal care products.
First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost, CalSTRS CEO Cassandra Lichnock, the chief investment officers of CalPERS and CalSTRS, and the CEOs of various investment management firms also spoke at Catalyst.
The last Catalyst forum was held in June 2023 in Burlingame, California.
Please visit the CalPERS Investment Office webpage for more information on our investments and current initiatives.