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Sterling Heights Police & Fire Retirement System
The Sterling Heights Police & Fire Retirement System serves as the defined-benefit pension plan for the sworn public-safety employees of Sterling Heights,...
Sterling Heights Police & Fire Retirement System
The Sterling Heights Police & Fire Retirement System serves as the defined-benefit pension plan for the sworn public-safety employees of Sterling Heights, Michigan. The system is governed by a board of trustees that mixes elected plan participants, mayoral appointees, and the city treasurer — a governance structure typical of Michigan municipal plans. John Lamerato serves as president of the board, with day-to-day administration handled by Pension Administrator Kerrie Dzwonkowski. The fund's investment strategy reflects a conservative municipal pension playbook, blending public equities with direct real estate and income-oriented structures. Its real estate exposure includes commitments to commercial property vehicles such as the American Realty Advisors Real Estate Fund. The system also holds dedicated Master Limited Partnership portfolios, signaling a direct allocation to energy and transportation infrastructure through tax-advantaged publicly traded vehicles. Assets are managed with statutory constraints dictated by Michigan's Public Employee Retirement System Investment Act. The system participates in MAPERS, the Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems, which provides educational programming, legislative tracking, and peer benchmarking — a common resource for smaller municipal plans without dedicated internal investment staff. No external consultant is publicly named as the primary investment advisor in available records. The fund's structural differentiator is its extreme locality: a single-city, public-safety-only pension plan in a Midwest suburb, unpooled with the city's general employees. This narrow participant base creates a highly concentrated actuarial pool where retiree healthcare and COLA provisions can shift funded status faster than investment performance.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Sterling Heights
Corporate office
Sterling Heights, MI, United States
Principals
John Lamerato
President of the Board of Trustees
Jonathan Feil
Secretary of the Board of Trustees
Randall Schwarb
Trustee
Robert Maleszyk
Trustee
Jia Hang
City Treasurer and Trustee
Nathaniel Rymill
Secretary and Trustee
Kerrie Dzwonkowski
Pension Administrator and Administrative Liaison
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who governs the Sterling Heights Police & Fire Retirement System?
The system is governed by a board of trustees. Public records show John Lamerato serving as president, with Jonathan Feil as secretary and four additional trustees including City Treasurer Jia Hang. This mix of elected plan participants and city officials follows the standard Michigan municipal pension governance model.
What is the fund's asset allocation?
Public filings indicate the fund holds a mix of public equities, commercial real estate, and Master Limited Partnerships targeting energy and transportation infrastructure. The real estate allocation includes commitments to vehicles such as those managed by American Realty Advisors. A formal target allocation has not been widely disclosed outside of the fund's annual reports.
Is this plan part of a larger state or county system?
No. The Sterling Heights Police & Fire Retirement System is a standalone municipal plan serving a single city's public-safety workers. It is not pooled with the Michigan Municipal Employees' Retirement System (MERS) and operates separately from the city's general employee pension arrangements.
Does the plan utilize external investment consultants?
A primary external investment consultant is not publicly named in available records. The system's participation in MAPERS, the Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems, provides access to educational resources and peer benchmarking that smaller plans often use to support trustee decision-making.
What retirement benefits does the plan provide?
The plan provides defined-benefit pensions, and in accordance with Michigan law, likely includes disability and survivor provisions specific to police and fire personnel. Details on COLA adjustments, vesting schedules, and final-average-compensation calculations would be specified in the plan document adopted by the city.
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