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In the first 100 days of 2025, as Donald Trump began his second presidential term, the stock market experienced one of its worst starts in decades, wiping out billions in investor wealth.
Among those who were hurt and are now looking to play defense with investments are large pension funds.
What Happened: The California State Teachers' Retirement System, also known as CalSTRS, has a large portfolio with thousands of stocks and other investments.
Earlier this year, CalSTRS Chief Investment Officer Scott Chan said the pension fund was facing "unprecedented and world-changing" risks, as reported by Bloomberg.
"What's changed to the negative is fairly unique because its almost entirely related to policy," Chan said.
Chan's comments referred to the Trump administration’s constant policy changes, including tariffs, which have created market uncertainty.
"Today's storm is different. We don't know what the shock is," Chan said in March.
Chan said tariffs and a possible recession are top concerns, along with geopolitical tensions like the role the U.S. plays in conflicts like the war between Russia and Ukraine and the future of NATO.
"Those are geopolitical types of risks that would be extremely hard to navigate from a portfolio perspective."
Looking back at Chan's comments today might make a portfolio change made in the first quarter. According to a report from Quiver Quantitative, CalSTRS added to its stake in Trump Media & Technology Group (NASDAQ:DJT) in the quarter.
As of the end of March, the pension fund owns 95,463 shares of DJT worth $1.87 million. The position was increased by 21,004 shares in the quarter or 28%.
While this makes up a small part of the portfolio, Chan has concerns about the economy under Trump. The fund, he says, would play defense with fixed income and cash.
Also consider that the fund lowered its stake in some of the top holdings and large companies during the quarter. That includes its top five holdings:
The fund lowered positions in those names, while DJT was one of the names to see an increase in the quarter. While Trump Media & Technology is not tired directly to the economic performance of Trump or his policies, some investors or members of the pension may not like seeing their money invested in a company that counts the president as the largest stakeholder.
CalSTRS has a 30-year target of producing annual returns of 7% to meet retirement obligations. A drop in the stock market and underperformers like Trump Media could put those returns at risk.
Trump Media stock is down 25.2% year-to-date in 2025 and down over 50% in the last year.
Did You Know?
Tesla Investment: Along with an investment in Trump Media that might not please all pension members, portfolio holding Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has also been the subject of controversy.
CalSTRS received 38 emails in the first three months of 2025 asking the pension fund to sell its Tesla stake. Another email request asked the fund to sell anything related to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
The comments came in as Musk was working with the Department of Government Efficiency to cut federal jobs and having staffers disrupt the Department of Education to look for waste and funds to cut.
"These are difficult times that call for more than ordinary actions," Edward Hasbrouck, spouse of a teacher who's a beneficiary of the pension fund, told CalSTRS at the meeting. "You have ample fiscal reasons to sell that Tesla stock, but in selling it, you will be doing more than your fiduciary responsibility. You'll also be doing the right thing."
At the end of the first quarter, the pension fund owned 4,493,611 Tesla shares worth $1.16 billion. The position made up 1.5% of the fund's assets according to Quiver Quantitative. The Tesla holdings decreased by 7,476 shares, or 0.17% in the quarter.
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