California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) vs University of California Retirement Plan
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and University of California Retirement Plan are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) grades C while University of California Retirement Plan grades B. Funding ratios: 67% vs 84%.
University of California Retirement Plan 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
University of California Retirement Plan has a stronger Pension Health Score of 78/100 (B) compared to California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) at 58/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 16.2 percentage points (83.5% vs 67.3%). University of California Retirement Plan covers 305,000 participants.
| Metric | California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) | University of California Retirement Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 58/100 (C) | 78/100 (B)* |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 67.3% | 83.5%* |
| Total Assets | $473.0B | $82.0B |
| Total Liabilities | $703.0B | $98.2B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $230.0B | $16.2B* |
| Participants | 2,050,000 | 305,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 5.8% | 7.2%* |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | moderate | low |
| Sponsor | State of California | University of California |
University of California Retirement Plan has a stronger Pension Health Score of 78/100 (B) compared to California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) at 58/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 16.2 percentage points (83.5% vs 67.3%). University of California Retirement Plan covers 305,000 participants.