.jpg)
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) today issued the following statement about the resignation of Hewlett Packard (HP) Chair Raymond Lane and Directors John Hammergren and G. Kennedy Thompson:
“CalPERS welcomes the resignation of the Chair of the Board and the departure of two directors. We are pleased that Hewlett Packard is starting their search for an independent Chair,” said Anne Simpson, CalPERS Senior Portfolio Manager and Director of Global Governance. “It is time to move beyond the recent failures at HP and bring fresh talent to the boardroom. HP needs a Board which is unencumbered, and will provide rigorous oversight of all decisions, including reviewing the auditor."
At last month’s annual shareholder meeting, CalPERS voted against Chair Lane and Directors Hammergren and Thompson, citing recent leadership failures and lack of independence. Forty-five percent of proxies cast at the general meeting were against Chair Lane, including CalPERS 13.7 million shares. Although he has stepped down as Chair, he currently remains on the Board of Directors. The System also voted against ratification of the company’s external auditor, Ernst & Young.
CalPERS has engaged HP following a series of disastrous acquisitions, which led to an $18 billion write down and plunging share price.
CalPERS is the largest public pension fund in the U.S. with approximately $256 billion in assets. The retirement system administers retirement benefits for more than 1.6 million current and retired California State, public school, and local public agency employees and their families on behalf of more than 3,000 public employers in the state, and health benefits for 1.3 million enrollees.
