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Michigan State Employees' Retirement System
The Michigan State Employees' Retirement System, created in 1942, provides retirement benefits for the state's classified civil service workforce.
Michigan State Employees' Retirement System
The Michigan State Employees' Retirement System, created in 1942, provides retirement benefits for the state's classified civil service workforce. The fund operates within the Michigan Department of Treasury, where State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks chairs the State of Michigan Investment Board. The Bureau of Investments, led by CIO Jon Braeutigam, manages the portfolio alongside a dedicated internal staff in Lansing. MSERS allocates across a diversified institutional mix: public equities, fixed income, private equity, real estate, absolute return strategies, and real assets including infrastructure pools. The real estate portfolio includes commitments to core, value-add, and opportunistic vehicles — confirmed positions include AEW Core Property Trust, Clarion Gables Multifamily Trust, and Rialto Real Estate Funds (II, III, IV). Infrastructure commitments are made through pooled vehicles, and the absolute return sleeve includes multi-manager hedge fund exposure. The fund's private equity program spans buyout, growth equity, and venture strategies primarily through fund commitments to external general partners. The pension maintains active engagement memberships in Climate Action 100+ and, until a 2025 re-evaluation, participated in the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. The Bureau of Investments' internal direct investment capabilities — running portions of the portfolio without intermediary managers — distinguish MSERS from many state pension systems of comparable size. This hybrid model blends internal management with external allocations, supported by a professional investment staff operating from a single Lansing headquarters. Structurally, MSERS stands apart from fully outsourced state pensions by retaining meaningful internal portfolio management capacity. The fund's governance runs through a layered board structure: the State of Michigan Investment Board sets policy direction, with representation from the State Treasurer, gubernatorial appointees, and retiree members including Lauri Schmidt and Timothy Hughes. This architecture embeds direct public accountability into the investment governance process, a constraint — and a feature — that shapes mandate design and manager selection across every asset class.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1942
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Lansing
Corporate office
Lansing, MI, United States
Principals
Jon Braeutigam
Chief Investment Officer
Rachael Eubanks
State Treasurer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at MSERS?
Jon Braeutigam serves as Chief Investment Officer of the Bureau of Investments, overseeing portfolio management for MSERS and other Michigan state retirement systems. He reports within the Michigan Department of Treasury, where State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks chairs the State of Michigan Investment Board, which sets overall policy direction.
Does MSERS invest directly or only through external managers?
MSERS operates a hybrid model: the Bureau of Investments manages a significant portion of assets internally — unusual among state pensions — while also committing to external fund managers across private equity, real estate, infrastructure, and absolute return strategies. The internal team handles public equities and fixed income allocations directly.
Which real estate managers is MSERS invested with?
Confirmed real estate commitments include AEW Core Property Trust, Clarion Gables Multifamily Trust, Rialto Real Estate Funds (II, III, IV), and CIM Funds (III, VIII, VI), spanning core mixed-use, multifamily residential, and commercial strategies across the United States (per public pension disclosures).
How does MSERS approach climate and ESG considerations?
MSERS participates as an investor member of Climate Action 100+, a collaborative engagement initiative focused on greenhouse gas emitters. The fund was also listed as a member of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, though its participation was under re-evaluation as of 2025.
What is the governance structure for MSERS investments?
The State of Michigan Investment Board provides governance, with membership including the State Treasurer, gubernatorial appointees, and elected retiree representatives. The Bureau of Investments executes under this board's policy authority, with professional investment staff handling day-to-day portfolio operations.
Does MSERS invest in infrastructure and real assets?
Yes. The fund maintains dedicated infrastructure pools within its real asset allocation. Combined with its real estate portfolio, these allocations provide inflation-sensitive, long-duration return streams that complement the liability-matching needs of the retiree base.
How large is the total plan and what is its funding status?
MSERS manages assets estimated in the range of $20 billion for Michigan state employee retirement obligations. Exact AUM and funded ratio figures are published annually in the state's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report; the Bureau of Investments manages total state retirement assets across multiple Michigan systems.
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