US pension fund hikes investment in Indian markets

New Delhi: The California Public Employees'' Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest pension fund in the US, has found India to be one of the best performers among all the emerging markets in its investment policy report for 2007, approved by its board yesterday.

Currently, CalPERS has investments of about $1 billion in over 55 Indian stocks, which represents a whopping over 260 per cent return since the purchase of these stocks.

CalPERS may also expand its exposure to the Indian stock market, as it has given impressive returns ever since the world''s second largest pension fund with assets worth about 240 billion dollars began investing here in 2004.

For 2007, CalPERS board has decided it might invest in twenty emerging markets including Argentina, Brazil, India, Israel, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey.

The decision was based on a report from its consultant Wilshire Associates, which reviewed country and financial market factors such as political stability, transparency and labour practices of 27 emerging markets, CalPERS said in a statement.

CalPERS, however, would not be permitted public equity investments in China, Colombia, Egypt, Pakistan, Russia, Venezuela, and Sri Lanka.

The pension fund, which provides retirement and health benefits to about 1.5 million state and local public employees and their families, had about 5.2 billion dollars invested in emerging markets as of December 31, 2006.