When asked about General Electric’s performance sans-activist, the California Public Employees Retirement System said in an emailed statement to Forbes, “CalPERS agrees that Boards do not need activists to spur a focus on the long term, however, if the Board is open and accountable they will be tuned in to their long term owners thinking. General Electric is a company we have recently praised for voluntarily adopting proxy access, which will allow long term significant shareowners to put forward candidates for the Board onto the ballot.”