Updated:
Shands HealthCare Retirement Plan
The Shands HealthCare Retirement Plan supports employees of Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics, a statutory affiliate of the University of Florida that forms...
Shands HealthCare Retirement Plan
The Shands HealthCare Retirement Plan supports employees of Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics, a statutory affiliate of the University of Florida that forms the core of the UF Health system in Gainesville. Plan assets originate from employee contributions and organizational funding tied to a major academic medical center with more than 2,000 providers. The plan is administered under at least one named vehicle, the Shands HealthCare Pension Plan II, with Ed Daech listed as plan administrator. The plan's asset base is notably concentrated in direct real estate linked to the UF Health footprint. Holdings include the UF Health South Central Medical Office Buildings in Marion County and the Yulee Medical Office Building. The plan also maintains exposure to mixed-use rental properties through the Southeastern Healthcare Foundation and participates in liquid alternatives via instruments like the Florida-based Special Purpose Investment Account and FLCLASS. This portfolio structure suggests capital is deployed primarily to support or align with the health system's physical plant rather than pursuing a broadly diversified external allocation model. Beyond real assets, the plan's operational scale remains opaque — total assets are undisclosed and the number of beneficiaries or investment staff is not public. The parent health system ranks among the largest in the Southeast, operating 26 emergency and urgent care locations and 12 hospitals. The plan's connection to the UF Health Shands Foundation and the Southeastern Healthcare Foundation indicates some structural overlap between retirement assets and philanthropic real estate holdings. No recent fund commitments, consultant mandates, or board changes have been publicly reported, leaving the plan's trajectory largely inferred from property records and affiliation filings. Structurally, the plan operates as a self-administered pension vehicle for a captive, non-profit health system — meaning its investment posture is inseparable from the real estate and operational needs of UF Health. Unlike a sovereign fund or an independent pension overseer, Shands HealthCare Retirement Plan does not appear to pursue third-party capital or external manager-of-manager relationships. Its identity is that of an internal utility: funding retirement obligations while holding assets that sustain the larger health system's physical infrastructure.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Gainesville
Corporate office
Gainesville, FL, United States
Principals
Ed Daech
Plan Administrator for Shands HealthCare Pension Plan II
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Shands HealthCare Retirement Plan?
Plan administration for Shands HealthCare Pension Plan II is assigned to Ed Daech as Plan Administrator, per organizational filings. The plan does not publicly disclose an investment committee or external chief investment officer; given the observed asset base of direct real estate and a Special Purpose Investment Account, decision-making likely involves internal UF Health finance staff in coordination with the plan administrator.
How does the plan source its exposure to alternative assets?
Known alternative holdings are concentrated in hard assets: direct ownership of medical office buildings in Jacksonville, Yulee, and Marion County, plus rental properties held through the Southeastern Healthcare Foundation. The plan also lists a Special Purpose Investment Account and FLCLASS — a Florida local government investment pool — as assets, suggesting a combination of direct real estate and pooled liquid alternatives rather than fund commitments to third-party managers.
Is Shands HealthCare Retirement Plan a single-employer plan or part of a larger state system?
It is a single-employer plan for Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics, an affiliate of the University of Florida. It is not part of the Florida Retirement System, and coverage under the Shands plan is distinct from the state's defined-benefit or defined-contribution offerings for public university employees.
Does the plan maintain philanthropic structures, and how are they separated?
Two affiliated foundations — UF Health Shands Foundation and Southeastern Healthcare Foundation — hold real estate assets that appear in the plan's portfolio, notably the Southeastern Healthcare Foundation Rental Properties. The degree of legal separation or commingling between retirement trust assets and foundation holdings is not publicly documented, but in practice the plan's real asset exposure overlaps with properties used by the broader UF Health ecosystem.
What is the plan's known posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?
There is no public evidence of co-investment activity or GP relationships. The plan's disclosed alternative assets are entirely direct real estate and state-level pooled vehicles. This suggests a posture of self-sourcing real-asset exposure rather than participating in external private equity or venture co-investment syndicates.
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.
Need institutional-grade insight on pension funds?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: