"A problem facing bond insurers who want to cut CalPERS debt is the view, perhaps legally correct, that the pension fund is only a 'conduit' or trustee for funds that actually belong to the members of the pension system.... If so, negotiations to roll back pensions improperly boosted through various 'spiking' methods (usually adding to the final pay on which pension amounts are calculated) would have to include hundreds of scattered retirees."  MORE >>