Calpers Commodity Holdings Drop in December for Third Month

(Updates with inflation-linked bond holdings and spokesman comment starting in third paragraph.)

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The value of commodity holdings by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension fund, slid in December for at least the third straight month, according to the most-recent data available.

The fund held $1.577 billion in commodities as of Dec. 31, or 0.6 percent of the total assets listed at $248.775 billion, according to a monthly report on today’s agenda for the fund’s investment committee meeting. That’s down from $1.588 billion as of Nov. 30, or 0.7 percent of total assets of $243.669 billion. In October, the fund reduced its commodity holdings by 55 percent, after reporting $3.45 billion as of Sept. 30.

Holdings of inflation-linked bonds rose 0.5 percent to $5.979 billion, or 2.4 percent of total assets, as of Dec. 31, data from the monthly report shows. That compares to $5.952 billion as of Nov. 30, according to the fund.

Calpers’ target allocation for commodities is 1 percent of its fund with a range of 0.5 percent to 3 percent, according to a Calpers investment-policy report on Jan. 12. The fund’s target allocation for inflation-linked bonds is 3 percent with a range of 1 percent to 5 percent. Calpers has a flexible asset- allocation range between its investment areas, according to Joe DeAnda, a press spokesman for Calpers.

“This allows Calpers investment staff to quickly make decisions based on market conditions and internal investment strategies,” DeAnda said in an e-mailed statement. “The increased allocation to inflation-linked bonds from commodities represents a routine implementation of this flexibility by Calpers investment staff.”

The fund’s board is meeting today, tomorrow and Feb. 21, according to Calper’s website.

--Editors: Steve Stroth, Thomas Galatola