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New Orleans Municipal Employees Retirement System
The City of New Orleans Employees' Retirement System (NOMERS) was created in 1947 as the defined-benefit backstop for the city's civil servants.
New Orleans Municipal Employees Retirement System
The City of New Orleans Employees' Retirement System (NOMERS) was created in 1947 as the defined-benefit backstop for the city's civil servants. It is a component unit of the City of New Orleans government, governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by Marina M. Kahn. The fund's wealth originates from mandatory employee and employer contributions, not a single family's exit or endowment transfer — making its liability stream and governance inherently political and public. NOMERS deploys capital across a deliberately balanced mix: public equities, fixed income, real estate, infrastructure, private equity, and venture capital. The fund is notable for holding direct real estate assets tied to the city's own civic fabric — City Hall at 1300 Perdido Street, Gallier Hall on St. Charles Avenue, and the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner. These direct holdings sit alongside commingled real estate exposure through vehicles like the Principal Enhanced Property Fund and Intercontinental Real Estate. On the venture side, the fund has exposure to early-stage and growth-stage strategies, executed through fund-of-funds commitments. Its infrastructure sleeve includes global assets, while Louisiana-specific cash management flows through the Louisiana Asset Management Pool. Director Jesse Evans, Jr. runs day-to-day operations alongside CFO and Treasurer Romy S. Samuel, with oversight from Trustees Amy B. Trepagnier — who also serves as the city's Director of Personnel — and Norman White, the city's Director of Finance. The board's composition embeds the plan deep inside city government. The system is an active member of the Louisiana Association of Public Employees' Retirement Systems and the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, signaling standard public-plan peer engagement. No dedicated website beyond the city's own portal exists, and the fund does not publish a detailed annual deployment breakdown. What distinguishes NOMERS structurally is its dual identity as both pension investor and civic landlord. The fund directly owns mission-critical municipal real estate that the city itself occupies — creating an unusual landlord-tenant relationship between the pension plan and its sponsoring government. This concentration of New Orleans-specific real assets, paired with a globally diversified venture and infrastructure book, makes the plan's risk profile unusually tethered to the economic trajectory of a single flood-prone metro area, even as its liquid portfolio seeks broader market exposure.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1947
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
New Orleans
Corporate office
New Orleans, LA, United States
Principals
Jesse Evans, Jr.
Director of the Retirement System
Marina M. Kahn
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
Ross Bourgeois
Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Romy S. Samuel
Treasurer/CFO and Trustee
Amy B. Trepagnier
Trustee
Kim T. DeLarge, Sr.
Trustee
Norman White
Trustee
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the City of New Orleans Employees' Retirement System?
Day-to-day operations are led by Director Jesse Evans, Jr. with CFO and Treasurer Romy S. Samuel. The Board of Trustees, chaired by Marina M. Kahn and vice-chaired by Ross Bourgeois, holds ultimate fiduciary authority. Trustees include the city's Director of Personnel, Amy B. Trepagnier, and Director of Finance, Norman White, embedding the plan's governance inside city hall.
Does NOMERS invest directly in real estate, or only through funds?
NOMERS does both. The plan directly owns major New Orleans civic properties including City Hall, Gallier Hall, and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. In parallel, it invests through commingled vehicles like the Principal Enhanced Property Fund and Intercontinental Real Estate. This hybrid approach gives the fund concentrated exposure to its home city alongside diversified commercial real estate.
What is the fund's posture on venture capital?
The fund has a venture capital allocation spanning seed-stage through late-stage, executed primarily through fund-of-funds commitments. Its stated strategy coverage includes early-stage, start-up, expansion, and growth. The plan does not disclose individual venture fund managers or direct co-investment activity, and public reporting on its private-market portfolio is minimal.
How is NOMERS governed, and what is its relationship to the City of New Orleans?
NOMERS is a component unit of the City of New Orleans government, established by municipal ordinance in 1947. The Board of Trustees includes both elected and appointed members, with the city's Director of Personnel and Director of Finance holding permanent seats. All investment and administrative decisions ultimately flow through this board structure, making the fund directly accountable to the city's political apparatus.
Does the fund disclose a target asset allocation?
No detailed target asset allocation is publicly available through the fund's own communications. The strategy is described as balanced across public equities, fixed income, real estate, infrastructure, private equity, and venture capital. Detailed benchmarking and allocation ranges are not published on the city's website, which serves as the fund's only digital presence.
Where does the fund's capital come from?
Contributions come from City of New Orleans employees and the city government as employer. The fund covers municipal officers, employees, and certain parochial and judicial workers. It is a classic defined-benefit public pension plan — not an endowment or sovereign fund — with an actuarially determined liability stream tied to the city's workforce size and payroll.
Does NOMERS maintain any philanthropic or community investment programs?
The fund does not operate its own philanthropic arm, but its direct real estate portfolio has community-facing dimensions — it owns the Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition and the NOLA Percent for Art Collection, both public art programs housed on city properties. The Greater New Orleans Foundation is identified as an affiliated entity in public records, though the exact funding relationship is not detailed.
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