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Marblehead Retirement Board
The Marblehead Retirement Board administers the town's contributory retirement system under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 32. Robert F. Peck, Jr.
Marblehead Retirement Board
The Marblehead Retirement Board administers the town's contributory retirement system under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 32. Robert F. Peck, Jr. has served as the appointed fifth member and chairman across eight terms as of 2025. The board includes elected members from the fire department, a Select Board appointee, and the town finance director as an ex-officio member. Its membership is typical of Massachusetts local retirement boards — heavy on labor representation from public safety. Unlike larger municipal funds that build internal investment teams, Marblehead's board delegates all asset management to the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board in Boston. PRIM runs the $100 billion-plus Pension Reserves Investment Trust, meaning Marblehead's assets are commingled with those of other state and local systems. The board's role is strictly administrative and fiduciary: it certifies benefit calculations, approves disability retirements, and ensures compliance with state reporting requirements through the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission. The board and its administrator, Linda A. Gifford, participate actively in the Massachusetts Association of Contributory Retirement Systems, the trade group that coordinates the 106 local systems across the Commonwealth. MACRS provides legislative advocacy and continuing education for board members. Marblehead's system serves a compact participant base — roughly 430 active employees and 355 retirees and beneficiaries — making it one of the smaller systems in the Massachusetts network. The defining structural fact about the Marblehead Retirement Board is that it is an investment outsourcing pure-play. The board maintains zero direct manager relationships, no alternative-asset co-investment program, and no internal investment staff. Every dollar flows through PRIM's commingled trust. This architecture eliminates the governance burden of asset allocation decisions but also removes any ability to tailor the portfolio to Marblehead-specific liability characteristics beyond what the PRIT fund's one-size-fits-all approach provides.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Marblehead
Corporate office
Marblehead, MA, United States
Principals
Robert F. Peck, Jr.
Chairman
Linda A. Gifford
Board Administrator
Jason R. Gilliland
Elected Member
Douglas B. Knowles
Elected Member
Charles Gessner
Appointed Member
Aleesha Nunley Benjamin
Ex-officio Member
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Marblehead Retirement Board?
No one at the board level runs investment decisions. The Marblehead Retirement Board outsources all asset management to the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board in Boston. PRIM manages the pooled Pension Reserves Investment Trust, which commingles Marblehead's assets with those of other Massachusetts state and local retirement systems. The local board's role is limited to fiduciary oversight, benefit administration, and compliance — it does not hire managers, allocate to asset classes, or make co-investment decisions.
How is Marblehead's pension system structured compared to other Massachusetts towns?
Marblehead's system is one of 106 contributory retirement systems operating under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 32. Each system is locally governed by a retirement board with a standard composition: an elected member, an appointed member, a member chosen by the other two, and ex-officio members from municipal finance and, in some cases, the town clerk. All 106 systems invest through PRIM unless they received a specific exemption before the 2007 pension reform that mandated consolidation into the PRIT fund. Marblehead follows the standard Massachusetts local-system model with no bespoke investment authority.
Does the Marblehead Retirement Board have any direct exposure to private equity or venture capital?
Indirectly, yes — through PRIM's allocations. PRIM maintains substantial commitments to private equity, real estate, timber, and hedge funds within the PRIT portfolio. Marblehead's participants benefit from these exposures on a pro-rata basis but the local board has no ability to influence pacing, manager selection, or strategy within those programs. The board cannot initiate direct co-investments or commit capital to funds independently of PRIM.
What is the board's relationship with the Massachusetts Association of Contributory Retirement Systems?
The board and its administrator are active members of MACRS, the statewide association representing all 106 Massachusetts contributory retirement systems. MACRS advocates for local boards on legislative and regulatory matters before the state legislature and PERAC. It also provides training and continuing education that helps board members meet their fiduciary education requirements under state law.
How many participants does the Marblehead system cover, and who are they?
The system covers approximately 430 active employees and 355 retirees and beneficiaries, per the board's official filings. Participants include general municipal employees, public safety personnel, and teachers not covered by the separate Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System. The town's fire chief and a firefighter both serve as elected board members, reflecting the significant weight of public safety personnel in the participant base.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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