CalPERS Names New Targets

The California Public Employees Retirement System on Thursday named nine companies as targets during this spring’s annual meeting season because their stocks have not performed well.

CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension fund and long a leader in shareholder activism, said it has met with or sought meetings with the boards of each of the companies because they are “economic under-performers.”

They include paper manufacturer Boise Cascade Corp.; retailers Kmart Corp. and Melville Corp.; farm equipment maker Navistar International Corp.; school ring and yearbook supplier Jostens Inc.; Zurn Industries Inc., which makes power plants and water systems; Oryx Energy Co., and U.S. Shoe Corp.

“The meeting we seek is like a wake-up call to the board of directors,” CalPERS General Counsel Richard Koppes said.

All nine have agreed to meet with CalPERS, Koppes said. CalPERS identified the companies “based on their ranking among the 50 poorest relative long-term performers” in the pension fund’s portfolio of more than 1,200 companies.

As it has for the past several years, CalPERS started its program with a letter to the chairman of each company, asking to meet with the board’s independent directors to discuss performance and shareholder value. If a meeting is denied, the company could face a vote against reelection of directors.