# Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Employees' Retirement System Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Employees' Retirement System is a Pension Fund based in Chelsea, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Pension Fund - **Headquarters:** Chelsea, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Chelsea, MA, United States - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** mwraretirement.com - **LinkedIn:** linkedin.com/company/mwra ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Employees' Retirement System serves the pension needs of current and former employees of the MWRA, the independent public authority responsible for wholesale water and sewer services across Greater Boston. Established under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 32, the system operates as a contributory defined-benefit plan for a workforce whose daily operations underpin one of the oldest engineered water systems in the United States. The retirement board manages plan assets under the regulatory oversight of the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission, which sets funding schedules and investment policy guardrails for all municipal and state pension systems across the commonwealth. The system runs a broadly diversified portfolio spanning public equities, fixed income, and a growing private-markets allocation. Real estate is the most visible alternative sleeve, with commitments documented across several vintage-year funds and direct vehicles. Holdings include core institutional property through the PRIT Core Fund — the in-state real asset pool managed by the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board — along with fund interests in StepStone Real Estate Fund II, TA Realty Core Property, and BentallGreenOak vehicles. A distressed-debt posture emerges through the Invesco Mortgage Recovery Master Fund, a post-financial-crisis vehicle targeting discounted residential and commercial loan pools. Additional private real estate exposure flows through TerraCap and Landmark Real Estate Partners VI, pushing the system's brick-and-mortar footprint into value-add and opportunistic territory across US markets. Governance rests with a five-member retirement board whose composition follows the Massachusetts contributory retirement system model — a mix of elected member representatives, an appointee from the sponsoring authority, and a designee with financial experience. The board engages external consultants for asset-liability studies and manager selection, a standard architecture for mid-sized public plans in the state. The system does not maintain a dedicated internal investment staff, relying instead on the board's fiduciary vote and contracted advisory relationships to allocate capital. Membership in the Massachusetts Association of Contributory Retirement Systems provides a policy and education forum alongside peer boards managing other municipal, county, and authority-level pension assets within the state. The defining structural feature is the plan's narrow sponsor base. Unlike large state or county funds that pool risk across thousands of disparate employer units, MWRA's retirement system is tied to a single operating authority with a specialized infrastructure mission. That concentrated sponsor relationship creates a direct feedback loop between the authority's workforce stability, its ratepayer-funded budget, and the pension plan's contribution adequacy — a dynamic municipal credit analysts track when evaluating MWRA revenue bonds. The system's actuarial health and funding trajectory are reported annually through PERAC's public data portal, alongside every other Massachusetts public plan. ## Sectors - Real Estate - Private Credit - Infrastructure ## Questions ### Does MWRA invest in private markets or only public securities? The system allocates to private markets, most visibly in real estate. Documented commitments include the PRIT Core Fund (a Massachusetts-based institutional real asset pool), StepStone Real Estate Fund II, TA Realty Core Property, BentallGreenOak vehicles, and the Invesco Mortgage Recovery Master Fund — a vehicle targeting distressed residential and commercial mortgage assets. It also participates in TerraCap and Landmark Real Estate Partners VI (Altss research). ### Is the MWRA system part of the state's PRIM or PRIT structure? The MWRA system is a separate legal entity from the state's Pension Reserves Investment Management Board. However, it accesses PRIM-managed vehicles as an investor — notably the PRIT Core Fund, a commingled real estate portfolio available to Massachusetts public pension systems. It is not consolidated into the state's larger pension reporting unit (public record). ### Does the retirement board have an in-house investment team? No dedicated internal investment staff has been publicly identified. Like most mid-sized Massachusetts contributory retirement systems, the board relies on an external investment consultant and votes on manager recommendations, asset allocation targets, and funding policy. Day-to-day administration and member services are handled by a small executive office (public record). ## Related profiles - [Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System](https://altss.com/profile/massachusetts-teachers-retirement-system-mtrs) - [MassMutual](https://altss.com/profile/massmutual) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/massachusetts-water-resources-authority-employees-retirement-system-mwra Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology