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South Carolina Police Officers Retirement System (PORS)
The South Carolina Police Officers Retirement System (PORS) was established in 1962 to provide defined benefit pensions for state and local law enforcement...
South Carolina Police Officers Retirement System (PORS)
The South Carolina Police Officers Retirement System (PORS) was established in 1962 to provide defined benefit pensions for state and local law enforcement officers. The plan is administered by the South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA), with investment management delegated to the Retirement System Investment Commission (RSIC). The State Treasurer, currently Curtis M. Loftis, Jr., sits on the commission ex officio, linking the plan's governance to the state's balance sheet while maintaining an independent fiduciary mandate. PORS relies on RSIC to execute a diversified multi-asset strategy spanning public equities, fixed income, real estate, private equity, and hedge funds. The real estate portfolio includes commitments to opportunistic vehicles such as Sculptor Real Estate Fund V and Carlyle Realty Partners X, both targeting mixed-use assets in the United States. The plan also allocates to a portable alpha hedge fund portfolio, a structure designed to isolate manager skill from market beta and enhance total fund returns. While specific exposure targets are not publicly enumerated, the portfolio reflects a mature institutional approach combining core passive exposures with actively managed satellite allocations. The RSIC investment staff, led by CEO Michael Hitchcock and CIO Bryan Moore, functions as the operational center of the retirement system. The commission has not disclosed the total number of staff or a precise deployment figure. The plan's administrative backbone is supported by active membership in the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) and the Council of Institutional Investors (CII). Recent operational activity has not been publicized, a posture consistent with many state pension funds that disclose material changes only via quarterly commission meetings. The system's most notable structural feature is the governance wall between elected officials and day-to-day investment decisions. The RSIC exercises independent fiduciary authority over the portfolio, a legal construct that removes the retirement pool from the direct reach of annual budget politics. This architecture places PORS in a cohort of state plans where the investment committee, not the Treasurer or Governor, retains the final word on manager selection and asset allocation — a governance model designed to prioritize long-term actuarial health over political cycles.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1962
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Columbia
Corporate office
Columbia, SC, United States
Principals
Peggy G. Boykin
Executive Director, PEBA
Michael Hitchcock
Chief Executive Officer, RSIC
Bryan Moore
Chief Investment Officer, RSIC
William H. Hancock
Chair, RSIC Commission
Curtis M. Loftis, Jr.
State Treasurer, South Carolina
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who controls investment decisions for PORS?
The South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission (RSIC) has exclusive fiduciary authority over the PORS portfolio. The commission is led by Chair William H. Hancock, while day-to-day execution falls to CEO Michael Hitchcock and CIO Bryan Moore. This structure isolates asset allocation and manager selection from the State Treasurer's office, despite the Treasurer holding an ex officio seat on the commission.
How does PORS differ from the state's other employee retirement plans?
PORS is a distinct defined benefit plan exclusively for state and local police officers, firefighters, and certain other law enforcement personnel. It operates with the same administrative and investment backbone as the South Carolina Retirement System (SCRS) — both are administered by PEBA and invested by RSIC — but maintains separate actuarial assumptions, benefit tiers, and contribution rates tailored to the public safety workforce.
Does PORS invest in hedge funds?
Yes, the RSIC allocates a portion of the PORS portfolio to a portable alpha hedge fund strategy. The structure aims to separate manager returns from broad market movements, providing a source of absolute return uncorrelated to the system's public equity and fixed income holdings. The strategy is part of a broader alternatives bucket that also includes private equity and real estate.
What is the role of the State Treasurer in managing PORS?
The South Carolina State Treasurer, currently Curtis M. Loftis, Jr., serves as a voting member of the RSIC commission by statute. However, the Treasurer is one of several commissioners and does not direct investment staff or unilaterally set asset allocation. The commission acts as a fiduciary board, and the Treasurer's role is to represent the broader fiscal interests of the state while participating in board-level oversight.
Is PORS's portfolio information publicly available?
PORS does not publicly disclose its total assets under management or precise allocation targets in a consolidated dashboard. Detailed investment holdings and performance are reported quarterly to the RSIC commission and appear in the system's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). Those reports are available through PEBA's public records portal but typically lag by several months.
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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