# City of Franklin Employees' Pension Plan and Trust

City of Franklin Employees' Pension Plan and Trust is a Pension Fund based in Franklin, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Franklin, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Franklin, Tennessee, United States
- **Founded:** 1971
- **Assets under management:** $163M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** franklintn.gov
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.franklintn.gov

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The plan was established in 1971 as a single-employer defined benefit scheme for municipal employees of Franklin, Tennessee. Its oversight falls to a five-member Employee Pension Committee composed of the mayor, an alderman who serves as chairman, the city's human resources director, and an appointed citizen representative — Bob Ravener, formerly Chief People Officer at Dollar General. The assistant city administrator and CFO serves as staff contact. Investment management and administration shifted decisively in 2017 when the plan entered a partnership with the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS), which now runs the core portfolio. Before this transition, the plan made direct allocations to alternative assets, and legacy holdings persist. Known exposures include a dedicated City of Franklin Pension Real Estate Fund Portfolio covering mixed-use properties, separate timberland investments across the United States, and a distinct City of Franklin separate limited partnership. The plan also participates in the Tennessee Retiree Group Trust for post-employment benefits. The current posture emphasizes secondary-market interests within private markets, while TCRS handles day-to-day asset management and reporting. No public professional headcount or deployment total is disclosed. The plan's investment structure is lean: external management through TCRS with committee oversight from Franklin-based officials, supported by the CFO's office. The City of Franklin itself participates in the Tennessee Municipal League and has received financial reporting awards from the Government Finance Officers Association, whose model policies guide the city's investment program. Structurally, this plan is a pure agency model — no internal investment staff, no co-investment clubs, no hybrid family-office dynamics. Its distinctiveness lies in the bifurcation between TCRS-managed pooled assets and the legacy direct holdings that predate the 2017 agreement. The pension committee retains governance over that legacy sleeve, creating a duel-track oversight structure unusual among Tennessee municipal plans of its size.

## Sectors

- Secondaries & Special Situations
- Real Estate
- Timberland

## People

- Clyde Barnhill — Alderman and Chairman of the Employee Pension Committee
- Kristine Brock — Assistant City Administrator/CFO and staff contact for the Pension Committee
- Dr. Ken Moore — Mayor of Franklin and member of the Employee Pension Committee
- Bob Ravener — Citizen representative on the Pension Committee
- Kevin Townsel — Human Resources Director and member of the Employee Pension Committee

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at the City of Franklin Employees' Pension Plan?

The five-member Employee Pension Committee provides governance, but day-to-day investment management and administration has been outsourced to the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) since 2017. The committee retains oversight of legacy alternative assets that predate the TCRS agreement. No internal investment staff is employed by the plan.

### How does this plan relate to the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System?

In 2017, the plan transitioned investment management and administration to TCRS, which now runs the core portfolio. TCRS also oversees certain legacy alternative assets from the plan's earlier investment activity. The arrangement centralizes professional asset management while Franklin's pension committee retains fiduciary governance.

### Does the plan hold direct real estate or private market assets?

Yes. Legacy direct holdings include a dedicated City of Franklin Pension Real Estate Fund Portfolio with mixed-use properties, separate timberland investments across the United States, and a distinct City of Franklin separate limited partnership. These predate the 2017 TCRS agreement and remain under committee oversight.

### What alternative asset strategies does the plan currently pursue?

The plan's contemporary alternative strategy concentrates on secondaries within private markets. Its legacy book also contains direct real estate and timberland, but new commitments appear oriented toward secondary-market transactions rather than primary fund commitments or direct co-investments.

### Who sits on the Employee Pension Committee?

The committee includes Alderman Clyde Barnhill (chairman), Mayor Dr. Ken Moore, Human Resources Director Kevin Townsel, citizen representative Bob Ravener — former Chief People Officer at Dollar General — and assistant city administrator/CFO Kristine Brock as staff contact.

## Related profiles

- [Hanover College Endowment](https://altss.com/profile/hanover-college-endowment)
- [Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga](https://altss.com/profile/community-foundation-of-greater-chattanooga)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/city-of-franklin-employees-pension-plan-and-trust

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