# Sonoma County Employees' Retirement Association Sonoma County Employees' Retirement Association is a Pension Fund based in Santa Rosa, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Pension Fund - **Headquarters:** Santa Rosa, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Santa Rosa, CA, United States - **Founded:** 1946 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** scretire.org - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/sonoma-county-employees-retirement-association ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About SCERA administers retirement and health benefits for Sonoma County workers through a hybrid defined-benefit plan governed by the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937. CEO Julie Wyne, in the role since 2013, manages day-to-day operations alongside Assistant CEO and Chief Legal Counsel Cristina Hess, while the Board of Retirement sets policy with Chair Bob Williamson and County Treasurer-Tax Collector Erick Roeser providing fiscal oversight. The association runs its own member portal, MySCERA, for personal account management and benefit estimates. Investment strategy under CIO James Failor mixes direct real asset commitments with allocations to institutional fund vehicles, with no publicly disclosed target allocation percentages. The portfolio spans multiple asset classes — agriculture, commercial real estate, infrastructure, and special situations credit. Named fund relationships include UBS Trumbull Property Fund and JPMorgan Strategic Property Fund for US commercial real estate exposure, Fiera Comox Global Agriculture Fund and UBS Agrivest Farmland Fund for agricultural holdings, and IFM Global Infrastructure Fund plus KKR Diversified Core Infrastructure Fund for infrastructure. June 2025: SCERA's Investment Committee convened its regular monthly meeting, part of a governance calendar that also includes separate meetings for the audit committee, disability committee, and full retirement board. The board itself saw membership updates as of December 2025, with elections closing in October 2025 after the nomination period ended. SCERA participates actively in California's public-pension ecosystem — CEO Wyne sits on the SACRS Legislative Committee, and the association holds memberships in CALAPRS, NAPPA, and the Council of Institutional Investors, reflecting a governance posture that connects local fiduciary duty to statewide and national policy advocacy. The association's structural differentiator lies in its dual role under California's 1937 Act framework: SCERA both manages a pension trust and operates as a direct-service health-benefits administrator for county retirees. This bundles investment governance with member-facing benefit delivery, creating an operational footprint broader than a typical trust-only pension office. The board includes the elected county auditor-controller-treasurer-tax collector as a statutory member, embedding county fiscal authority directly into plan oversight — an architecture that ties pension decisions to the county's broader financial condition in a way that standalone pension authorities cannot replicate. ## Sectors - Real Estate - Infrastructure - Agriculture - Private Equity ## People - Julie Wyne — Chief Executive Officer ## Questions ### Who runs investment decisions at SCERA? James Failor serves as Chief Investment Officer. The Board of Retirement, chaired by Bob Williamson with members including County Treasurer-Tax Collector Erick Roeser, oversees investment policy and approves commitments. Fund relationships disclosed in portfolio documents indicate a mix of direct staff management and external manager delegation. ### How is SCERA governed under California law? SCERA operates under the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937, a California-specific statutory framework. The board includes both elected and appointed members, plus the county auditor-controller-treasurer-tax collector as a statutory board member, giving the county's fiscal officer a direct governance role. ### What real asset classes does SCERA target? Disclosed fund commitments show exposure to US commercial real estate (UBS Trumbull Property Fund, JPMorgan Strategic Property Fund), global agriculture (Fiera Comox Global Agriculture Fund, UBS Agrivest Farmland Fund), and North American/global infrastructure (KKR Diversified Core Infrastructure Fund, IFM Global Infrastructure Fund, Axium Infrastructure). ### Does SCERA co-invest directly or only commit to funds? All publicly identifiable commitments are to commingled institutional funds rather than direct co-investments. Names include Davidson Kempner Special Opportunities Funds III and IV for special situations and KKR Diversified Core Infrastructure Fund for infrastructure — typical of a pension using fund vehicles for access rather than building direct-investment teams. ### How does SCERA's board relate to Sonoma County government? The county auditor-controller-treasurer-tax collector holds a board seat by statute, linking pension governance to the county's elected fiscal management. This structure means board decisions sit alongside — not separate from — the county's broader financial position and budget cycle. ### How do SCERA members manage their benefits? The association runs MySCERA, a self-service online portal where members can view account information, generate retirement benefit estimates, update contact preferences, and receive electronic delivery of the SCERA Times newsletter. This direct-to-member infrastructure is uncommon among trust-only pension offices. ## Related profiles - [Sonoma Brands Capital](https://altss.com/profile/sonoma-brands-capital) - [Sonoma Management Partners](https://altss.com/profile/sonoma-management-partners) --- Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/sonoma-county-employees-retirement-association Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology