California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) vs San Francisco Employees Retirement System
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and San Francisco Employees Retirement System are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) grades C while San Francisco Employees Retirement System grades A. Funding ratios: 67% vs 87%.
San Francisco Employees Retirement System comes out ahead on the composite rubric. For a participant in either plan, the spread is informative but not directly actionable — pension participation is not portable, so the relevant question is what each plan's funded-status trajectory means for that participant's benefit security.
Verdict
San Francisco Employees Retirement System has a stronger Pension Health Score of 82/100 (A) compared to California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) at 58/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 20.0 percentage points (87.3% vs 67.3%). San Francisco Employees Retirement System covers 68,000 participants.
| Metric | California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) | San Francisco Employees Retirement System |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 58/100 (C) | 82/100 (A)* |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 67.3% | 87.3%* |
| Total Assets | $473.0B | $33.8B |
| Total Liabilities | $703.0B | $38.7B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $230.0B | $4.9B* |
| Participants | 2,050,000 | 68,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 5.8% | 6.4%* |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | moderate | low |
| Sponsor | State of California | City and County of San Francisco |
San Francisco Employees Retirement System has a stronger Pension Health Score of 82/100 (A) compared to California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) at 58/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 20.0 percentage points (87.3% vs 67.3%). San Francisco Employees Retirement System covers 68,000 participants.
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