Municipal Employees Retirement System of Louisiana

David A. Steele serves as Chief Investment Officer, reporting to a board of trustees that includes municipal employer representatives and elected employee members. The board's investment committee retains an external general investment consultant that advises on asset allocation, manager selection, and performance monitoring. Day-to-day portfolio management is executed by internal staff alongside external managers across public and private markets.

Because MERSLA serves thousands of active municipal employees and current retirees across Louisiana, the system must maintain sufficient liquidity to meet monthly benefit payments. That requirement anchors a substantial allocation to marketable public equities and fixed income. The illiquid alternatives program is sized within actuarially modeled cash-flow projections so that private-market capital calls and distributions do not stress the benefit-payment schedule.

MERSLA's private-market exposure historically flows through commingled limited-partnership funds and fund-of-funds vehicles rather than direct company investments. The system has periodically evaluated direct co-investment capabilities alongside existing general partners, but the core private-equity and private-credit books remain fund-based. Staff size and governance bandwidth favor delegated manager selection over in-house deal execution.

The system's actuarial assumed rate of return has been reported at 7.00%, which sits in the middle of the range for U.S. public pension plans that have steadily reduced assumptions from 8.00% territory over the last decade (per the system's board materials and peer surveys conducted by the Public Plans Database). The assumed return drives the funded-ratio calculation and influences municipal employer contribution rates across participating Louisiana entities.

MERSLA covers non-teaching municipal employees from dozens of Louisiana cities, towns, and parishes that have elected to participate in the statewide system. The full roster of participating employers is maintained in the system's annual financial report. Each participating municipality contributes at an actuarially determined rate, with contribution levels reset periodically based on experience studies and market performance.

The general investment consultant provides asset-allocation modeling, manager due diligence, performance reporting, and ongoing fiduciary education to the board and investment committee. Specialty consultants are retained for asset classes including real estate and private markets where specialized sourcing and monitoring capabilities are required. The consultant relationship functions as an extension of internal staff for a pension system that runs lean relative to the largest state plans.

The board of trustees includes members elected by the system's active and retired participant population, municipal employer appointees designated by participating local governments, and certain ex-officio state officials or their designees. This multi-constituency governance is standard for cost-sharing multiple-employer public pension plans and ensures that both employee-beneficiary and taxpayer-contributor perspectives are represented in investment and benefit decisions.