People are “waking up” to the fact that “the game appears to be rigged,” Joe Dear, CIO of California Public Employees’ Retirement System, told CNBC Tuesday.

“The financial system gets bailed out, executives' salaries stay high and the incomes of people who work for a living, paycheck to paycheck, continue to decline,” said Dear.

The fact that people are taking to the streets because the economy isn't meeting the needs of ordinary Americans "should not come as any surprise to anybody," he explained.