Tesla, Nio, Nikola, Zoom — Stocks The Largest US Pension Fund Is Betting On

California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the United States by assets, has increased its exposure to stocks of Nio Inc NIO, Nikola Corporation NKLA, and Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM, the fund disclosed in a form filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

What Happened: CalPERS increased its investments in Nikola and Nio and almost doubled its stake in Zoom.

The pensions system added 205,972 Nikola shares in the third quarter, taking its total holdings to 261,546 shares. Those shares have slipped 70% in the period.

In September, short-seller Hindenburg Research released a report accusing Nikola of being “an intricate fraud built on dozens of lies.”

The report was released just days after EV firm had announced a partnership with General Motors Company GM

Nio ADRs totaled 2.3 million, with CalPERS adding 381,439 in the period. The electric vehicle firm’s shares have surged over 1000% year-to-date.

Nio gained momentum last week buoyed by strong results of Xpeng Inc XPEV. The stock took 22 sessions to move from $20 to $30 but only five to go from the $30 to $40 mark. 

Zoom meanwhile has risen 500%. CalPERS holds 653,764 shares of the videoconferencing company after it added 312,406 in the third quarter.

Why It Matters: The pension fund manages nearly $400 billion in assets including 1.69 million shares of Tesla Inc TSLA.

The Palo Alto-based EV maker has seen a 400% gain from the beginning of 2020 till Friday’s closing. 

Price Action: Nikola shares closed almost 8.2% higher at $21.18 on Friday and fell 0.47% in the after-hours session. On the same day, Nio shares closed 7.74% lower at $44.56 and Zoom shares closed 5.85% lower at $403.58 and fell 0.38% in the after-hours session.