Farmington Hills Retirement System

Farmington Hills Retirement System

Farmington Hills Retirement System functions as the fiduciary for the City of Farmington Hills, Michigan, providing retirement benefits to municipal workers including police, fire, and general employees. Finance Director Thomas C. Skrobola serves as the plan's administrator, operating under a Board of Trustees chaired by Eric Gould with City Council liaison Ken Massey sitting as a bridge between the fund and the city's legislative body. The structure reflects Michigan's legal framework, where locally administered plans retain independent investment authority subject to state-level reporting standards and the oversight of a politically appointed board. The fund allocates across publicly traded fixed income and equities, but its alternatives exposure tilts heavily toward buyout strategies and institutional core real estate. Documented real estate commitments include stakes in the Principal U.S. Property Account and the Clarion Lion Properties Fund, both core open-end vehicles targeting stabilized, income-producing commercial properties in major U.S. markets. On the private equity side, the system commits to buyout funds, sourcing opportunities through consultant relationships and its membership in the Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (MAPERS), which facilitates peer-level diligence among the state's municipal plans. The pension board maintains a governance posture that is willing to pursue litigation to protect fund assets. As Lead Plaintiff in a securities class action against Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., the Retirement System helped secure a $62.5 million settlement, signaling an activist orientation that not all municipal plans exercise. The board roster — blending career municipal finance staff with elected and appointed trustees — operates without a dedicated investment staff, relying instead on external consultants and the pooled expertise of MAPERS working groups to underwrite commitments. Unlike large state-level peers that build internal investment teams or launch captive co-investment platforms, the Farmington Hills plan operates as a trust-governed allocator with no proprietary deal-sourcing capacity. Its structural differentiator is its litigation readiness and its deep integration with Michigan's municipal pension association network, which substitutes for the in-house resources a larger plan might deploy. Succession risk sits with the City Council's appointment powers and the institutional knowledge held by Skrobola and the senior trustees.