Essex Regional Retirement Board

Essex Regional Retirement Board

The Essex Regional Retirement System was established in 1937 to administer defined-benefit pensions for municipal employees across Essex County. Charles E. Kostro serves as Executive Director while Susan J. Yaskell chairs the five-member board. The system collects contributions from 19 towns, five school districts, 17 housing authorities and six special districts. Assets are deployed across multiple classes. Public equity and fixed income sleeves are managed by RhumbLine Advisers, Garcia Hamilton & Associates, Earnest Partners and State Street Global Advisors. Real estate exposure includes a minority interest in Ten Faxon Avenue held through Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation Fund IV. Timberland holdings consist of Brookfield Timberland Fund V and Campbell Global Timber Fund LP. Private equity and venture commitments run through Ascent Venture Partners, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, Boston Millennia Partners and Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation. Allocations span the United States with additional timberland exposure on a global basis. The board reported 687 million dollars in assets. It maintains membership in the Massachusetts Association of Contributory Retirement Systems and the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. In June 2024 the board attended the MACRS Annual Conference in Hyannis. Service providers include Dahab Associates as investment advisor, State Street Bank as custodian, Sacco and Collins as legal counsel, Stone Consulting as actuary and Powers & Sullivan as auditor. The board participates in the PRIT Fund through the PRIM Board, which supplies centralized investment management and scale for smaller Massachusetts public plans. This structure allows the Essex board to access diversified strategies without maintaining a large internal investment team.