Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Marcie Frost

42. Marcie Frost

The largest public pension fund in the nation is the $440 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, and the top executive at CalPERS is Marcie Frost, who rides herd on a sort of vast nation-state that serves two million retirees and their families and draws intense international attention because of its impact on global markets. Frost has her work cut out for her: The fund reported a $29 billion loss in assets in July – its first loss since the Great Recession. The news chilled CalPERS members who rely on the fund, although the fund overall has thrived mightily. CalPERS’ recent move to sell off about $6 billion in assets went nearly unnoticed in California media but was big at Bloomberg. There’s been a certain amount of turmoil there – a chief investment officer who left in 2018 was followed by one who resigned in 2020, and another CIO has been on board since earlier in the year. Frost came to CalPERS in 2016. Earlier, she was the top executive at Washington state’s retirement system and served in Washington Gov.
Jay Inslee’s cabinet.

Updated Aug. 9, 2022