Last week, I wrote about Judge Woolard's decision to order the California Public Employees Retirement System to disclose documents to the First Amendment Coalition about a real estate investment.  This isn't the first time that CalPERS has tangled with the First Amendment Coalition.  A few years ago, the First Amendment Coalition sued CalPERS in an effort to obtain disclosure of CalPERS' records relating some of its other investments.

Ultimately, a legislative compromise was worked out in the form of SB 439 (Simitian) which added a new section to the Public Records Act in the form of Government Code § 6254.26.   That statute excepts from disclosure specified records regarding "alternative investments" in which public investment funds invest.  An "alternative investment" is  an investment in a private equity fund, venture fund, hedge fund, or absolute return fund.  Interestingly, the legislature didn't tackle defining "venture fund" or "hedge fund".  Perhaps, the legislature agreed with Justice Stewart: "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it . . .".

There is no exception if the public investment fund has publicly released the information and there are exceptions to the exception for a long list of items.   Moreover, items that are excepted from the exception are not considered trade secrets.