City of Tacoma

City of Tacoma

The Tacoma Employees' Retirement System was founded in 1941 to provide defined benefit pensions for the city's public employees, with contributions from both the employer and plan members. CIO Timothy Atwill manages the investment program under the oversight of a Board of Administration chaired by Mayor Victoria Woodards. The system serves municipal workers in one of Washington's principal port cities. The pension's investment strategy spans buyout, venture capital, distressed debt, mezzanine, secondaries, natural resources, and timber, executed primarily through fund-of-funds structures and direct co-investments. Real estate holdings include the Tacoma Municipal Building at 747 Market Street and the IDR Core Property Index Fund. Infrastructure commitments are global in scale, with positions in Pantheon Global Infrastructure Funds IV and V, Northleaf Infrastructure Capital Partners IV, and TPG AG's European and Asian realty funds. The fund has also explored cryptocurrency as an asset class and gained exposure to the Alerian Midstream Energy Index. With an estimated $2.1 billion in assets, the system is a member of the Council of Institutional Investors, the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, and the Government Finance Officers Association. The retirement fund operates alongside Tacoma Creates, a cultural access program supported by public funding. May 2024: The TERS Board approved a review of the system's actuarial assumptions, a routine governance action that shapes contribution rates and liability projections. The fund operates under the direct authority of a board chaired by the sitting mayor, blending municipal governance with professional investment management. This structure subjects the portfolio to public-meeting transparency — investment committee agendas and board minutes are matters of public record — while the CIO executes day-to-day allocations.