CalPERs for infra investment in India

California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), one of the largest public pension funds in the US, is looking at infrastructure investments in India, a senior official of the fund said. It is also looking at increasing India allocations. CalPERS already has investments worth $1 billion (Rs 4,600 crore) in Indian equities.

"We are exploring some areas in infrastructure. India allocations are likely to increase over time," said Farouki Majeed, Senior Investment Director at CalPERS, at the India Investment Summit here.

The fund administers retirement benefits for 1.6 million active and retired state, public school, and local public agency employees and their families.

“CalPERS has $200 billion in assets under management globally, half of which is invested in equities. "We have a positive outlook on India, but there are certain structural impediments, particularly with regard to the infrastructure sector. Indian equities are richly valued at this point in time. So, one has to be cautious in deploying capital," Majeed said.

India has been attracting a significant amount of FII investments in the form of retirement funds, annuities, university and endowments funds. These funds have a fairly long-term view. Some of the prominent pension funds investing in India include Canada Pension Plan Investment, Denmark Pension Fund, William Penn Foundation and Universities Superannuation Scheme.

Hermes, a pension fund manager based out of Britain, is also optimistic on India. “The mood is positive,” said Kees Verbaas, Head of Global Emerging Markets, Hermes Fund Managers.