CalPERS, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, has been a trendsetter in many ways, in corporate governance and healthcare, for example. Its latest returns will likely be scrutinized by other institutions. The pension reported a near 20 percent gain for the year ending June 20. That marked the fourth straight year of double-digit gains. That's phenomenal given the pension's size, $250 billion. There are mutual funds that can't pull that off. How did it do it? Well, it was on a roll with international stocks, which gained 30 percent. Alternative investment strategies gained 23.3 percent. Despite the strong stock performance, the fund has been diversifying beyond stocks and has 6.2 percent in private equity. It's also investing in short positions for the first time. CalPERS will continue to seek non-stock market diversification.  

For more:
- read this Financial Week article