# Milwaukee City Employees' Retirement System (CMERS) Milwaukee City Employees' Retirement System (CMERS) is a Pension Fund based in Milwaukee, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Pension Fund - **Headquarters:** Milwaukee, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Milwaukee, WI, United States - **Founded:** 1937 - **Assets under management:** $5+ billion - **Website:** cmers.com - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/milwaukee-city ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About The Milwaukee City Employees' Retirement System serves as the defined-benefit plan for non-uniformed employees of the City of Milwaukee, along with participating employers like Milwaukee Public Schools and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. Executive Director Bernard J. Allen and CIO David Silber oversee the fund from Milwaukee. The plan traces its lineage to the broader municipal benefits ecosystem of Wisconsin, one of the few states where public pension systems are not consolidated at the state level, giving the local board direct fiduciary authority over asset allocation. The system maintains a straightforward but multi-layered asset strategy. Its most distinctive tactical feature, noted in board documents, is a focus on secondary market transactions to fine-tune its private markets exposure—buying and selling fund interests to manage pacing and vintage-year diversification. The public markets portfolio spans global equities and fixed income, while the private markets program leans heavily into real estate. Directly held real estate assets include Two Park Place in downtown Milwaukee. The fund also anchors its property portfolio through large commingled vehicles: the MetLife Core Property Fund, Morgan Stanley's Prime Property Fund, Prudential's PRISA, the UBS Trumbull Property Fund, the Jamestown Premier Property Fund, and industrial exposure via Prologis. It benchmarks these holdings against NCREIF indices. The plan participates in the Callan Public Fund Sponsor Database for performance comparisons and derives incremental yield through a global securities lending program. While the precise funded ratio and total asset figure are not actively published, the portfolio structure implies a mature, liquidity-conscious plan. In May 2023, the board reviewed its asset allocation study, reaffirming its commitment to real estate and a continued focus on secondary transactions to manage the legacy portfolio (per the firm's official communications, 2023). The defining governance feature is its decentralized, municipal-level authority. Unlike the larger Wisconsin Retirement System, CMERS operates under its own Annuity and Pension Board, chaired by Matthew Bell. This structure allows for asset allocation tailored to Milwaukee's specific workforce demographics but subjects the fund to local political dynamics and transparency requirements that differ from those of the monolithic state fund. Its discipline around secondary transactions is the practical expression of its independence, enabling a small, locally governed plan to actively shape its private market trajectory without a large internal alternatives team. ## Sectors - Real Estate - Private Credit ## People - Bernard J. Allen — Executive Director - David M. Silber — Chief Investment Officer ## Questions ### Who runs investment decisions at CMERS? Chief Investment Officer David M. Silber leads the investment program. He reports to the Annuity and Pension Board, chaired by Matthew Bell. The board retains full fiduciary authority over asset allocation, while Bernard J. Allen serves as Executive Director and Secretary to the board. ### How does CMERS use secondary market transactions? CMERS employs a dedicated secondaries strategy to manage its private markets pacing and vintage-year exposure. By buying and selling existing private fund interests on the secondary market, the fund can rebalance its alternatives allocation more nimbly than through primary commitments alone. This approach is a defining feature of its portfolio, used for both liquidity management and tactical deployment. ### What real estate does CMERS own? The fund maintains a large real estate portfolio through both direct ownership and core commingled funds. Its largest fund holdings include the MetLife Core Property Fund, Morgan Stanley Prime Property Fund, Prudential PRISA, and the UBS Trumbull Property Fund. The system also directly holds Two Park Place, a commercial property in Milwaukee. It benchmarks property performance against NCREIF indices. ### Does CMERS co-invest directly or only commit to funds? CMERS predominantly invests through externally managed commingled funds, particularly in real estate. Its public filing references and board discussions focus on fund commitments rather than direct co-investments. The secondaries program, by its nature, involves acquiring interests in existing limited partnerships, which positions the fund as a fund-level investor rather than a direct deal participant. ### How does CMERS generate incremental yield beyond its core portfolio? The fund operates a global securities lending program, lending out portions of its public equity and fixed-income portfolios in exchange for collateral and fees. This program provides a modest, low-risk income stream on top of the core investment returns, a common practice among public plans of its size. ### What is CMERS's relationship to the Wisconsin Retirement System? CMERS is entirely separate from the Wisconsin Retirement System. It is a locally governed, municipal-level plan overseen by its own Annuity and Pension Board. This decentralized structure means CMERS makes independent fiduciary decisions for Milwaukee employees, without the pooling or governance structure of the state-level WRS. ## Related profiles - [Millstone Evans Group](https://altss.com/profile/millstone-evans-group) - [Milwaukee Drivers Pension Plan](https://altss.com/profile/milwaukee-drivers-pension-plan) --- Last updated: 2026-07-08T22:13:33.821Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/milwaukee-city-employees-retirement-system-cmers Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology