A large investor in Goldman Sachs is not ready to abandon the beleagured financial services giant just yet.
California’s Public Employees’ Retirement System, commonly known as Calpers, owns about two million shares in Goldman. Despite the stock’s decline since the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a securities fraud investigation earlier this month, Calpers is standing behind the firm—for now, Chief Investment Officer Joe Dear told CNBC Monday.
“The government’s got to prove its case,” said Dear.
However, Dear said he was concerned that Goldman “get back to its roots” in terms of how it treats customers and make changes in its business practices. “Can I trust the people I’m doing business with? … If you can’t trust Goldman, that’s huge,” said Dear.
Dear supports financial services reform as long as it “restores confidence in the markets,” adding he’s also in favor of the Volcker rule, which bans banks from engaging in proprietary trading on behalf of customers. Democrats are trying to get a vote on the Senate bill this week.
Calpers is the largest public pension fund in the country.