# City of Southfield

City of Southfield is a Pension Fund based in Southfield, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Southfield, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Southfield, MI, United States
- **Assets under management:** $100M - $250M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** www.cityofsouthfield.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/city-of-southfield

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The City of Southfield Employee Retirement System is a single-employer defined benefit plan covering full-time career personnel for the Michigan city, explicitly excluding police officers and firefighters. The plan is administered by a dedicated SERS Board, currently chaired by Chris Diaz, with Megan Battersby serving as the plan's administrator. Eligible employees are automatically enrolled upon hire, building a pool of capital that, while modest by state-level standards, pursues a diversified alternatives program. The system allocates across real estate, private credit, and special situations through a fund-of-funds and direct co-investment posture. Known commitments span institutional real estate vehicles including AEW Core Property Trust, a core commercial property fund, and PCCP Equity VIII, targeting commercial debt and equity. The plan also backs regional operators: TerraCap Partners appears across Funds IV, V, and VI for mixed-use assets in the southern United States, while Bloomfield Capital — a Detroit-area private credit specialist — is held across multiple vintages. A further commitment to the RMK Global Timberland Resources Fund extends the portfolio into natural-resource infrastructure. The system's trustee structure includes employee representation through David Aniol, an elected member of the board, alongside leadership from Secretary Donna Sanders. The plan operates within the Michigan public pension ecosystem, maintaining memberships in the Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems and the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. These associations provide governance education, benchmarking, and legislative advocacy for plans of Southfield's size — a practical network effect that helps smaller asset owners vet managers and monitor industry shifts. The structural differentiator for Southfield lies in its portfolio construction at the sub-$150 million tier. While many municipal plans of this scale default to passive fixed-income and large-cap equity allocations, Southfield's roster includes distressed and opportunistic strategies — mezzanine, special situations, and secondaries — typically accessible to larger allocators. This implies a deliberate trustee appetite for complexity, possibly influenced by proximity to Detroit's credit-investing talent or a long-standing relationship with a boutique investment consultant steering the plan toward niche general partners.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Private Credit
- Infrastructure
- Secondaries & Special Situations

## People

- Chris Diaz — Chair of the SERS Board of Trustees
- Donna Sanders — Secretary of the SERS Board of Trustees
- Megan Battersby — Retirement Administrator
- David Aniol — Trustee, Elected Employee Representative

## Questions

### Who oversees investment decisions at the City of Southfield retirement system?

The Southfield Employee Retirement System is governed by a board of trustees, chaired by Chris Diaz, per Altss research. The board includes an elected employee representative and administrative staff, functioning as the final fiduciary for all asset allocation and manager-selection decisions.

### What investment strategies does the City of Southfield retirement system pursue?

The plan engages in a mix of co-investments, fund-of-funds, secondaries, mezzanine, and special-situations strategies. Its primary exposures are concentrated in commercial and mixed-use real estate, private credit, and timberland, often through regional specialists and institutional core funds.

### Which external fund managers does the system currently or historically commit to?

Known relationships include AEW Capital Management, PCCP, TerraCap Management, Bloomfield Capital, Mavik Real Estate, and RMK Timberland Group, per Altss research. These span core property trusts, commercial real estate credit and equity, Southern US mixed-use funds, and timberland.

### Is the Southfield retirement system part of any public pension associations?

Yes, the plan is a member of the Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems and the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. These organizations provide trustee education, industry benchmarking, and legislative monitoring for public plans.

### Who serves on the Southfield SERS Board of Trustees?

As of the latest Altss research, the board includes Chair Chris Diaz, Secretary Donna Sanders, and elected employee representative David Aniol, with Megan Battersby operating as the Retirement Administrator.

## Related profiles

- [Belmont Hill School](https://altss.com/profile/belmont-hill-school)
- [Goldring Family Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/goldring-family-foundation)

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

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

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