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South Carolina General Assembly Retirement System (GARS)
The South Carolina General Assembly Retirement System serves the state's elected officials, a narrow constituency that creates a distinct risk and liquidity...
South Carolina General Assembly Retirement System (GARS)
The South Carolina General Assembly Retirement System serves the state's elected officials, a narrow constituency that creates a distinct risk and liquidity profile compared to the state's broader teacher and employee funds. GARS is administered by the South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority, but its investment strategy is directed by the RSIC. The RSIC's CEO, Michael Hitchcock, and the Interim CIO, Bryan W. Moore, oversee a portfolio that blends public market exposure with significant commitments to private real assets and infrastructure. Recent known commitments show a clear preference for hard assets and specialized private equity. The fund has invested in global real estate through Brookfield Strategic Real Estate Partners and Sculptor Real Estate V, while also making a domestic infrastructure play via Peppertree Capital Fund X, which focuses on telecommunications infrastructure in the United States. This allocation pattern signals a focus on inflation-hedging assets and long-duration cash flows to match the system's retirement liabilities for its legislative members. The RSIC's professional staff operates from Columbia, South Carolina, and draws on a network of peer public pension institutions through memberships in the National Council on Teacher Retirement and the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. While the GARS-specific asset pool is smaller than the main South Carolina Retirement System, it benefits from the same investment infrastructure and fee bargaining power, a common structural advantage for smaller state-affiliated plans. The structural differentiator for GARS is its embedded position within the larger RSIC governance framework. Rather than maintaining a separate, costly investment office for legislators, South Carolina pools the administrative and investment expertise of the state's primary pension investment commission. This architecture allows a relatively small plan to access top-quartile private market funds and real asset strategies, a sourcing benefit that independent, stand-alone legislative retirement plans often lack.
General information
Firm type
Public Pension Fund
AUM
$53.6B
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Columbia
Corporate office
Columbia, SC, United States
Principals
Michael Hitchcock
CEO, South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission (RSIC)
Bryan W. Moore
Interim Chief Investment Officer, RSIC
Peggy G. Boykin
Executive Director, South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA)
William Hancock
Chair, Retirement System Investment Commission
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions for GARS?
The South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission holds exclusive authority over GARS investments. Michael Hitchcock serves as RSIC's CEO, with Bryan W. Moore acting as Interim CIO. The commission's board, chaired by William Hancock, has final fiduciary oversight on asset allocation and manager selection.
How does GARS differ from the main South Carolina Retirement System?
GARS is a smaller, specifically funded plan covering state legislators, while the primary South Carolina Retirement System covers state employees and teachers. Both pools share the same RSIC investment infrastructure and management, but GARS may maintain its own actuarial targets and liquidity requirements given the distinct demographic of its legislative members.
Does GARS invest directly or through funds?
GARS primarily invests through commingled fund structures. Its known real asset commitments are placed in large institutional vehicles like Brookfield Strategic Real Estate Partners and Sculptor Real Estate V, a typical approach for plans that lack the internal headcount to underwrite and manage direct property or infrastructure assets.
What is GARS's posture on private markets versus public equities?
The RSIC does not publish a GARS-specific asset allocation, but known commitments indicate a meaningful tilt toward private real estate and infrastructure. Pension plans with this profile often use private assets to enhance yield and match long-duration liabilities, while maintaining liquid public equity and fixed income portfolios for benefit payments.
Who administers the plan benefits and contributions?
The South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority, led by Executive Director Peggy G. Boykin, handles the administration of GARS, including member services and benefit distribution. RSIC's mandate is strictly investment management, with PEBA members serving as ex officio commissioners to maintain governance alignment.
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.
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