The California Employees' Retirement System has launched the Sustainable Investment Research Initiative to help drive innovative thought leadership that will inform and advance the organization's understanding of sustainability factors and the impact they have on financial performance.

CalPERS also is accepting papers from scholars and investment practitioners globally in the fields of finance, economics, accounting, law and business. The papers will contribute to the debate about the impact of environmental, social and governance issues on long-term value creation and capital market stability.

CalPERS will partner with the UC Davis Graduate School of Management to seek, collect and review the papers. Authors of the most distinguished papers will be invited to present their research at the inaugural Sustainability & Finance Symposium, to be hosted by UC Davis on June 7. Columbia Law School's Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership also will assist with the call for papers.