El Paso County Retirement Plan

El Paso County Retirement Plan

The El Paso County Retirement Plan launched in 1967 to provide retirement, death, and disability benefits to employees of El Paso County and select public entities. A Board of Trustees governs the plan, with El Paso County CFO Nikki Simmons serving as Chair of the Retirement Board and County Treasurer Chuck Broerman sitting as a board member. Participating employers include El Paso County itself, the Pikes Peak Library District, El Paso County Public Health, and the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office, making this a compact but multi-employer pool serving a diverse slice of Colorado's public workforce. The plan deploys capital across an unusually broad mix for a mid-sized county pension. The portfolio extends beyond traditional fixed income and public equities into venture capital and growth equity, with strategy tags spanning early-stage, buyout, distressed debt, and special situations. On the real-assets side, confirmed exposures include core-style open-end real estate funds, real estate limited partnerships, and timber and mortgage-linked investments, all concentrated within the United States. The fund-of-funds and co-investment posture suggests a preference for accessing private markets through intermediaries rather than building in-house direct origination capacity. Total AUM is estimated at $461 million, though the plan does not publicly disclose an audited figure in its current communications. Executive Director Greg Kuppenheimer oversees the administrative and operational functions, working under the direction of a board whose membership blends county financial officers and elected officials. There is no evidence of a separate philanthropic foundation or adjacent investment vehicle tied to the plan. The governance structure ensures that the El Paso County Treasurer and CFO retain direct budgetary oversight of the retirement trust. Structurally, the plan stands out as a multi-employer county retirement system in a state where most public pensions consolidate at the state level. El Paso County opted to self-administer rather than join the Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association, giving the board autonomy over asset allocation, actuarial assumptions, and participant appeals. That independence introduces both flexibility and a concentrated fiduciary burden on the county's financial leadership.