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Town of Manchester Pension Plan
The Town of Manchester Pension Plan is a defined-benefit scheme for municipal workers, governed by a volunteer board of trustees chaired by Jan Johnson.
Town of Manchester Pension Plan
The Town of Manchester Pension Plan is a defined-benefit scheme for municipal workers, governed by a volunteer board of trustees chaired by Jan Johnson. Day-to-day administration is staffed by the town's Director of Finance, Kimberly Lord. The plan's existence is tied to the fiscal health of the Town of Manchester, a Hartford suburb; its managers regularly submit the town's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for a Government Finance Officers Association award, signaling a culture of public-sector reporting rigor. The plan's investment menu reveals a tilt toward asset managers rather than operating companies. Known holdings include the GMO Benchmark-Free Allocation Fund — a multi-asset vehicle designed to ignore conventional market-cap weightings — and a stable-value product from Voya, appropriate for the defined-contribution 457/401 plan sidecar. The disclosed strategy sleeve spans distressed debt, secondaries, and hybrid funds, which suggests an opportunistic posture rather than a plain-vanilla 60/40 portfolio. Geographic concentration appears entirely domestic, with no international direct investments evident in the public record. The board meets as a committee of the town government, with members like Assistant Town Manager Kasia Purciello and regional finance professionals Christine Carr, Claire Hearn, and Harun Ahmed. The absence of a dedicated chief investment officer is the defining operational fact: a nine-member board of civil servants and appointees reviews manager performance and funding ratios without a professional investment staff layer between them and asset managers. The plan's administrative team participates in the New England States Government Finance Officers Association network, where peer-plan governance practices are a main agenda item. What distinguishes the Manchester plan structurally is the directness of its governance chain. There is no intermediary investment office, no CIO, and no consultant-advised outsourcing — just a finance director staffing a volunteer board that writes checks directly to institutional fund managers. For an allocator calling on the plan, the economic buyer is not a career investment professional but a municipal board weighing actuarial funding status against manager proposals.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Manchester
Corporate office
Manchester, CT, United States
Principals
Jan Johnson
Chairperson, Pension Board
Kimberly Lord
Director of Finance
Steve Stephanou
Town Manager
Christine Carr
Board Member
Claire Hearn
Board Member
Mary Roche Cronin
Board Member
Kasia Purciello
Board Member
Kevin Zingler
Board Member
Harun Ahmed
Board Member
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Town of Manchester Pension Plan?
A nine-member volunteer Pension Board, chaired by Jan Johnson, is responsible for investment policy and manager selection. The board is staffed by Director of Finance Kimberly Lord, who handles administration but does not have unilateral investment authority. No dedicated chief investment officer exists within the plan structure.
Does the plan invest directly or through fund managers?
The plan allocates to external fund managers. Known positions include the GMO Benchmark-Free Allocation Fund, a multi-asset strategy, and a stable-value account with Voya. The stated strategy list — distressed debt, secondaries, and hybrid funds — further indicates a fund-of-funds posture rather than direct company investing.
How large is the Town of Manchester Pension Plan?
The plan has not publicly disclosed its assets under management. Based on available municipal financial data, the plan's assets are estimated at approximately $178 million (Altss estimate). This places it in the lower tier of US public pension funds by asset size.
Where does the plan's capital come from?
Funding comes from Town of Manchester employer contributions and employee member contributions, as part of the town's annual budget process overseen by Town Manager Steve Stephanou. The plan is a defined-benefit scheme, meaning retirement payouts are guaranteed and funding shortfalls fall to the municipality.
What is the plan's posture on co-investments?
There is no public record of the plan making direct co-investments alongside its fund managers. Given its small estimated asset base and lack of professional investment staff, co-investment programs are unlikely; the plan likely accesses alternative strategies exclusively through commingled fund vehicles.
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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