CalPERS Names Corporate Target List

The $108-billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System released its top 10 list of corporate America’s financial underperformers. Apple Computer Inc. and Reebok International Ltd. head this year’s list of companies that CalPERS will target for severe underperformance relative to their industry peers. The companies will serve as the focus of CalPERS’ corporate governance activism for the 1997 proxy season. The other companies on its list are technology companies Novell Inc. and Sybase Inc.; shoe maker Stride Rite Corp.; Bassett Furniture Industries; food distributor Fleming Cos.; hazardous-waste treatment firm Rollins Environmental Services; ophthalmic laser systems maker Summit Technology Inc.; and electronic surveillance system provider Sensormatic Electronic.