# City of Warren General Employees Retirement System

City of Warren General Employees Retirement System is a Pension Fund based in Warren, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Warren, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Warren, MI, United States
- **Founded:** 1937
- **Assets under management:** Approximately $300 million (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** www.cityofwarren.org
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.cityofwarren.org/

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The City of Warren General Employees Retirement System provides defined-benefit pensions for full-time municipal workers, with its core being the Police & Fire Retirement System established in 1937. The fund operates under the authority of the city government, with a six-member board of trustees governing its administration and investment decisions. Chairperson Christine C. Cassani and Vice Chairperson Gary Urbanczyk lead the board alongside trustees drawn from the city council and controller's office. Allocation is executed through a multi-manager approach blending fund-of-funds, co-investment, and direct secondaries and special situations strategies. Confirmed holdings span public and private markets, including positions in the American Core Realty Fund, ABS Emerging Markets, and the Hudson Edge International Equity Fund. The portfolio tilts toward United States-based assets, with the American Core Realty Fund providing mixed-use real estate exposure within the domestic market. The fund maintains a working capital pool of an estimated $300 million (Altss estimate) — a figure it does not publicly disclose — and operates through a lean governance structure without a dedicated internal investment staff. The board of trustees acts as the investment committee, relying on external managers rather than in-house portfolio teams. The system participates in MAPERS, the Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems, the state-wide network for public pension funds. The defining structural feature is the integration of the city's own elected and appointed officials directly into the fiduciary chain: a city council member and the city controller sit as voting trustees, blending municipal budget oversight with pension investment governance in a way few larger systems replicate.

## Sectors

- Real Estate

## People

- Christine C. Cassani — Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
- Gary Urbanczyk — Vice Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
- Richard Fox — Trustee and City Controller
- Jonathan Lafferty — Trustee and City Council Member
- Larry Claeson — Trustee
- Amy Reichle — Trustee

## Questions

### Who makes the investment decisions for the fund?

The six-member Board of Trustees acts as the fund's investment committee. The board includes Chairperson Christine C. Cassani, Vice Chairperson Gary Urbanczyk, City Controller Richard Fox, Council Member Jonathan Lafferty, and trustees Larry Claeson and Amy Reichle. They oversee allocations but rely on external managers for day-to-day portfolio execution.

### What investment strategies does the system employ?

The fund deploys capital across buyout, co-investment multi-manager, fund-of-funds, secondaries, and special situations strategies. This multi-manager approach spreads exposure across public equities through strategies like Hudson Edge International Equity and ABS Emerging Markets, and private real assets through the American Core Realty Fund.

### How is the pension system related to the city government?

The General Employees Retirement System is a municipal entity of Warren, Michigan, established directly by the city. The link is structural: the city's elected council member and appointed controller sit as voting trustees on the pension board, making the city's fiscal health and the pension's governance operationally intertwined.

### Does the fund participate in club deals or direct co-investments?

Yes, co-investment is an explicitly stated strategy for the system. It operates alongside its fund-of-funds and secondaries allocations, though specific co-investment partners or deal names have not been publicly disclosed.

### What external networks or associations does the system belong to?

The system is a member of MAPERS, the Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems. This provides access to a state-wide network of peer public pension funds, which can serve as a channel for manager due diligence and investment policy collaboration.

## Related profiles

- [South Dakota State University](https://altss.com/profile/south-dakota-state-university)
- [Twin City Hospital Workers Pension Fund](https://altss.com/profile/twin-city-hospital-workers-pension-fund)

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

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/city-of-warren-general-employees-retirement-system

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