Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System

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Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System
Basic facts
Location:	Warwick, RI
Top official:	Frank J. Karpinski, executive director
Year founded:	1936
Active members:	8,161
Website:	Official website
Total assets under management
2022:	$2,130,858,801

See also: Public pensions in Rhode Island

The Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System is a Rhode Island state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's municipal employees. The Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System had $2,130,858,801 ($2.1 billion) in total assets under management as of June 30, 2023.

The management of public pension funds can indicate support or opposition to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investment practices. ESG investing considers the extent to which corporations align with and promote certain non-financial standards, such as net carbon emission or corporate board diversity goals. States typically hire asset management companies (AMCs) to direct pension plan investments, some of which have ESG commitments that guide their strategies.

This article features the following sections:

• Background: Information about the structure and functions of the Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System.
• Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System.
• Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with the Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System, including a list of contracting AMCs that are participants in the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative and the Climate Action 100+ initiative.
• Governance and accountability: Details about the Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System's oversight board, including members and selection.

Background

See also: Public pensions

The Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System, founded in 1936, invests the assets of and provides funding for the retirement of the participating municipalities' employees using a hybrid plan, combining features of a defined benefit plan and a defined contribution plan.

The Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System served over 8,161 active members and approximately 6,755 retirees and beneficiaries as of June 2023.

Pension performance overview

The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System as of June 30, 2023:

Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System pension performance (June 30, 2023)
Fiscal year	Percent funded	Unfunded liabilities	Total market value of assets
2023	82.4%	$456,070,906	$2,130,858,801

Assets and asset management

Asset management companies (AMCs) are hired to manage asset investment for state pension funds across all 50 states.

As of October 2024, 330 AMCs were members of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM), and 391 AMCs were investor participants in the Climate Action 100+ initiative. Both international asset manager initiatives aimed to align the investment decisions of signatories with the goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

NZAM announced on January 13, 2025, that it was suspending operations and removing the commitment statement and list of signatories from its website. The group said in a statement it would reevaluate its plans and operations in light of “[r]ecent developments in the U.S. and different regulatory and client expectations in investors’ respective jurisdictions.”

List of AMCs contracting with the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island

The Municipal Employees' Retirement System is a sub-fund within the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI). ERSRI administers the Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System, among other retirement and benefit plans for the public employees of Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System does not contract with its own AMCs; the AMCs for ERSRI account for all the pension plans it administers.

The Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI) contracted with 167 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of June 30, 2021. Of those companies or funds, six were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and 13 were members of NZAM, as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with ERSRI:

• Advent International GPE IX
• Advent International GPE VII
• Advent International GPE VIII
• AEW Core Property Trust
• Alta Partners VIII *
• Altaris Constellation Partners IV
• Altaris Health Partners IV
• Aristeia Partners
• Atalaya Asset Income Fund V
• Bain Capital Fund X
• Baring Asia Fund VI
• Baring Asia Fund VII
• Benefit Street Senior Opps. II
• Berkeley Partners V
• Birch Hill Equity Partners III
• Braemar Energy Ventures III *
• Brown Brothers Harriman - TIPS (NZAM)
• Capital Spring Investment Partners V
• Capital Spring Investment Partners VI
• Capula Global Relative Value Fund Ltd.
• Carlyle Asia Partners IV
• Carlyle Asia Partners V
• Castile Ventures III
• Centerbridge Capital Partners
• Centerbridge Capital Partners III
• Centerbridge Special Credit Partners II
• Charterhouse Capital Partners VIII
• Clearlake Flagship Plus Partners
• Clearlake Opportunities Fund II
• Coller International Partners V *
• Constellation Ventures III *
• Crow Retail Fund
• CVC European Equity Partners III
• CVC European Equity Partners IV
• CVC European Equity Partners V
• CVC European Equity Partners VI
• CVC European Equity Partners VII
• Davidson Kempner Institutional Partners LP
• Davidson Kempner LDO Fund IV
• Davidson Kempner LDO Fund V
• DCVC Bio II
• DE Shaw Composite International Fund
• Elliott Associates LP
• EnCap Energy Capital Fund IX
• EnCap Energy Capital Fund X
• EnCap Energy Capital Fund XI
• Eureka III
• Eureka IV
• Exeter Industrial Value Fund III
• Exeter Industrial Value Fund V
• Fenway Partners Capital Fund III
• Fidelity - IG Corporate Credit (Climate Action 100+)
• First Reserve Fund X
• First Reserve Fund XI
• Garrison Opportunity Fund IV
• GEM Realty Fund V
• GEM Realty Fund VI
• German Equity Partners V
• Graham Capital
• Granite Global Ventures Capital VIII
• Granite Global Ventures Discovery III
• Granite Global Ventures II *
• Granite Global Ventures III *
• Green Equity Investors V
• Hamilton Lane
• Harvest Partners - High Yield Infrastructure
• Hastings Equity Co-Invest
• Hastings Equity Fund IV
• Heitman - REITs
• Heitman HART
• Homestead USA Farmland Fund II
• IC Berkeley Partners III
• IC Berkeley Partners IV
• IFM Global Infrastructure, LP (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
• Industry Ventures Partnership Holdings III
• Industry Ventures Partnership Holdings III-C
• Industry Ventures Partnership Holdings IV
• Industry Ventures Partnership Holdings IV-Secondary
• Industry Ventures Partnership Holdings V
• ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II, LP
• ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund, LP
• JP Morgan Strategic Property Fund (NZAM)
• Kayne Anderson Energy Fund IV
• Leapfrog Ventures II
• Leeds Equity IV
• Level Equity Growth Partners IV
• Level Equity Opportunity Fund Twenty Eighteen
• Lighthouse Capital Partners VI
• Linchris Capital Opportunity Fund II
• Lone Star Real Estate Fund IV
• Loomis Sayles - Liquid Credit
• Loomis Sayles - Securitized Credit
• MacKay Shields - Investment Grade Fixed Income
• Mackay Shields - Treasury Long Duration
• Magna Hotel Fund III
• MHR Institutional Partners III
• Morgan Stanley Prime Property Fund
• Nautic Partners IX
• Nautic Partners V
• Nautic Partners VI
• Nautic Partners VII
• Nautic Partners VIII
• Neuberger Berman - Equity Options (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
• Nordic Capital Fund V
• Nordic Capital Fund VI
• Nordic Capital Fund VII
• Nordic Capital Fund VIII
• Oaktree European Principal Fund III
• Odyssey Partners VI
• Owl Rock Capital
• Paine & Partners Fund IV
• Paine & Partners Fund V
• Paladin III
• Parthenon Investors II
• Parthenon Investors VI
• Payden & Rygel (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
• PIMCO - Liquid Credit
• Point Four Hundred Six Ventures
• Point Judith Venture Fund II
• Providence Equity Partners V
• Providence Equity Partners VI
• Providence Equity Partners VII
• Raith Real Estate Fund II
• Riverside Capital Appreciation Fund VI
• Riverside Micro-Cap Fund III
• Riverside Micro-Cap Fund IV
• Riverside Micro-Cap Fund V
• RLH Investors IV
• Russell Investments (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
• Shamrock Content Fund II Co-Invest
• Shamrock IP Content Fund II
• Siris IV
• Sorenson Capital Partners III
• Southvest Fund VII
• Star America Infrastructure Fund II
• State Street Global Advisors (NZAM)
• State Street Global Advisors - BBG Barclays - TIPS (NZAM)
• Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund II - C (NZAM)
• Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund II, LP (NZAM)
• Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund III, LP (NZAM)
• Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund IV, LP (NZAM)
• Summit Partners Credit Fund *
• Summit Partners Credit Fund II *
• Systematic Trend Following (CPC LLC)
• TCG Crossover Fund
• Tenex Capital Partners II
• Tenex Capital Partners III
• Thoma Bravo Discover Fund III
• Thoma Bravo Fund XIV
• Thomas, McNerney & Partners
• Thomas, McNerney & Partners II
• TPG Partners IV
• TPG Partners V
• TPG Partners VI
• Tri Continental Capital VII
• Trilantic Capital Partners IV
• Viking Global Equities LP
• Vinci III
• Virgo Societas IV
• W Capital Partners II
• WAMCO - Treasury Long Duration
• Waterton Venture XII
• Wellington Management - EMD (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
• Winton Futures Fund Ltd.
• WLR Recovery Fund IV
• Wynnchurch Capital V
• Zephyrus Aviation Partners

Governance and accountability

This section features information about the 15-member board, called the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI) Board of Trustees, that oversees the Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System. The board is not specific to oversight of the Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System and exercises oversight duties for other state funds.

Board selection method

The board of trustees that oversees the Rhode Island Municipal Employees' Retirement System, called the ERSRI Board of Trustees, is made up of 15 members. The board includes the general treasurer or their designee from within the general treasurer’s office; the director of administration or their designee from within the department of administration; a representative of the budget office or their designee from within the budget office, appointed by the director of administration; the president of the league of cities and towns or their designee; two active state employee members of the retirement system or officials from state employee unions, elected by active state employees; two active teacher members of the retirement system or officials from a teachers union, elected by active teachers; one active municipal employee member of the retirement system or an official from a municipal employees union, elected by active municipal employees; two retired members of the retirement system, elected by retired members of the system; and four public members with a background in finance, accounting or pensions. Two of the public members are appointed by the governor and two of the public members are appointed by the general treasurer.

Board of trustees membership

A 15-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of ERSRI. The following individuals served on the board as of April 2024:

• James Diossa, chair
• Brenna McCabe
• Joseph Codega Jr.
• Andrew E. Nota
• Alan G. Palazzo
• Sandra M. Paquette
• Yan Li
• Claire M. Newell
• Matthew K. Howard
• Michael J. Cicerone Jr.
• Michael J. Twohey
• Mark A. Carruolo
• Jean Rondeau
• Lisa A. Whiting
• Laura Shawhughes

See also

• Public pensions in Rhode Island
• Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
• Arguments about environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
• Opposition to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing
• Reform proposals related to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
• State legislative approaches opposing ESG investing
• State legislative approaches supporting ESG investing

External links

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