California's highest paid state workers see salaries grow even larger

The most well-compensated state workers — apart from the football and basketball coaches of University of California teams — are the investment managers and executives of the Golden State’s public pension funds. And as of last year, those highly paid civil servants are making even more.

According to the latest payroll data, the top 10 highest-paid investment officers and executives of CalPERS and CalSTRS collectively took home $15 million in 2025 — nearly double what the public pension systems paid its most well-paid employees seven years ago.

Together, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System’s assets exceed $1 trillion, according to the latest valuations. That staggering amount is managed by investment officers and executives whose compensation is subject to scrutiny by the boards that oversee the retirement systems.

The reason for their massive pay packages comes down to the nature of investment officers’ work. To secure the best possible returns on public employees’ retirement contributions, the state agencies have said that they need to attract talented investment managers. Compensation for the public pension funds’ highest-paid employees has increased in recent years as the funds’ assets have similarly grown, though those increases have largely outpaced inflation.

Growing compensation totals

Last year, over 15 investment officers and other public pension executives took home total compensation packages that exceed $1 million. Dozens more earn over half a million dollars in pay. CalPERS Chief Investment Officer Stephen Gilmore appears to be the first civil service employee to have broken the $2 million mark with a total pay package of $2.27 million last year.

In 2019, only two civil service employees were paid more than $1 million. Together, the top 10 highest-paid CalPERS and CalSTRS employees received $7.9 million in compensation, which comes to $10 million when adjusted to inflation.

Last year, the top 10 highest-paid employees of those funds took home nearly double that amount.

“CalSTRS’ compensation totals have grown over recent years in part from adding senior investment director positions beginning in 2023, and CalSTRS added its fourth senior investment director in 2025,” Thomas Lawrence, a CalSTRS spokesperson, said in a statement. “Because the total fund has grown, including 8.5% in the previous fiscal year, and 9.4% for the five-year period from 2020-2025, compensation figures have grown as well.”

CalPERS’ total fund has grown as well. In 2019, the market value of the country’s largest public pension fund’s assets was $373 billion. The latest estimate of the fund’s assets is $613 billion.

Board aims for compensation near median of CalPERS’ peers

CalPERS doesn’t pay its executives as well as some other public pension funds, said Michelle Tucker, CalPERS’ chief human resources officer, adding that doing so wouldn’t be consistent with the retirement system’s fiduciary duty. But the pension system doesn’t want to be at the bottom, either.

“We’re looking to have a competitive rate that attracts professionals, but we would never expect, being a public-sector employer, that we’re going to be paying salaries akin to a private investment group, like J.P. Morgan,” Tucker said in an interview.

Investment officers’ and executives’ compensation is approved by CalPERS’ board of administration, which reviews pay packages annually. The board contracted an investment compensation consultant to review salary data and provide recommendations to the board.

For executives’ compensation, CalPERS aims for the median pay package paid by other funds in a combined group of similarly sized public pension funds, private-sector firms and other California-based agencies. For some positions CalPERS’ compensation exceeds the median, in others it’s below, the data from the latest compensation review shows.

CalSTRS, whose executives have routinely ranked among the highest paid civil servants, takes a similar approach to setting and reviewing investment officers’ and others’ compensation packages.

CalSTRS and CalPERS boards have established incentive programs that are designed to encourage fund managers to invest wisely and produce better returns for the retirement systems.

Other top earners

Other top paid state employees include doctors at various state departments and some other executives working for California agencies.

California High Speed Rail Authority Executive Director Ian Choudri made $563,000 last year. Choudri went on leave last week after Folsom police arrested him and his fiancée earlier this month. A spokesperson for the agency said Choudri was using his available paid time off balance during the temporary leave.

Vernon Steiner, the president and CEO of the State Compensation Insurance Fund, is another highly paid executive who raked in $1.2 million last year. Steiner’s salary has grown significantly in recent years. In 2019, his total pay was $710,000.

An agency spokesperson said that SCIF’s board of directors sets Steiner’s salary based on several factors, including a compensation study. A recent salary analysis done by a third party found Steiner’s pay was below the 25th percentile when compared to other CEOs of comparable insurance and financial services companies, the agency spokesperson said.

“The board also sets Vern’s salary based on how they view State Fund’s financial performance and our ability to deliver on our mission,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Since Vern became CEO in 2014, the board has determined that State Fund has performed exceptionally well. Over the past seven years, we have declared approximately $830 million in policyholder dividends, including $200 million just in 2025.”

Other employees who took home over half a million last year received hundreds of thousands of dollars in lump sum payments, which workers cash in at the end of their service with the state after accruing unused vacation time.

Last year, the state and unions agreed to a leave program that reduces pay in exchange for more vacation hours to help California reduce its deficit. Ultimately, that program will create future financial liabilities for California as retiring employees cash in unused vacation time.

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