# City of Haverhill Retirement System

City of Haverhill Retirement System is a Pension Fund based in Haverhill, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Haverhill, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Haverhill, MA, United States
- **Assets under management:** $250M – $350M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** www.cityofhaverhill.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/city-of-haverhill

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The City of Haverhill Retirement System operates as the defined-benefit pension plan for municipal employees of Haverhill, Massachusetts. A five-member board chaired by James Cleary governs the fund, with day-to-day administration overseen by David Van Dam. The system is one of 104 contributory retirement systems operating under the oversight of the Massachusetts Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC). Investment strategy spans multiple asset classes. In private markets, the fund allocates to buyout, growth equity, and venture capital across seed, start-up, and late-stage vintages. Real asset exposure includes direct commercial properties — Acadia, Osceola, and Texarkana in the Southern United States — alongside a dedicated timberland portfolio. The system's primary deployment vehicle is a significant stake in the Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT) Capital Fund, managed by the state's Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, which pools capital from Massachusetts public pension systems to access institutional-grade alternatives at scale. The board manages an estimated $289 million in assets. No additional offices or dedicated internal investment staff numbers are publicly disclosed beyond the board and administrator roles. The fund operates without a separate philanthropic arm or adjacent investment vehicles. Unlike standalone pension funds that build fully internal investment teams, Haverhill's structure relies on Massachusetts's centralized PRIT platform for core private-market exposure. This pooled architecture allows a mid-sized municipal fund to access fund commitments, co-investments, and real assets typically reserved for much larger institutions — a design shared by dozens of Massachusetts contributory systems.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Natural Resources
- Timber
- Private Equity
- Venture Capital
- Fund of Funds

## People

- James Cleary — Chairperson, Haverhill Retirement Board
- David Van Dam — Administrator, Haverhill Retirement System

## Questions

### Who oversees investment decisions for the Haverhill Retirement System?

A five-member Haverhill Retirement Board governs the fund. James Cleary serves as chairperson, and David Van Dam acts as the system's administrator. The board operates under the regulatory supervision of PERAC, the Massachusetts Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission.

### What real assets does the Haverhill portfolio include?

The system holds direct commercial properties in the Southern United States — identified as Acadia, Osceola, and Texarkana — and maintains a timberland portfolio. These holdings sit alongside the fund's PRIT commitments as part of a broader real-asset allocation.

### Does the fund participate in fund commitments or direct deals?

Both. The PRIT Capital Fund commitment represents a fund-of-funds allocation, and the direct commercial properties indicate the board also makes or holds direct real estate investments. The precise split between fund commitments and direct co-investment activity is not publicly detailed.

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- [University of Redlands](https://altss.com/profile/university-of-redlands)
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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/city-of-haverhill

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology