Town of Marblehead

Town of Marblehead

Robert F. Peck, Jr. chairs the five-member Marblehead Retirement Board, a local pension authority operating under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 32. The board administers retirement benefits for public employees of the Town of Marblehead, a coastal community north of Boston. Peck, a local attorney, is joined by Finance Director Aleesha Nunley Benjamin serving as an ex-officio member, alongside appointed and elected trustees drawn from town governance and the fire department. Like most Massachusetts municipal pension boards, Marblehead participates in the Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT), the Commonwealth's pooled investment vehicle managed by PRIM. This provides exposure to public equities, private equity, real estate, and hedge funds across a globally diversified portfolio. Alongside its PRIT position, the board maintains its own discrete holdings, including commercial properties at Abbot Hall and the Mary Alley Municipal Building, plus an industrial asset at the Marblehead Municipal Light Department plant. The dual structure — state-level pooling paired with direct real assets — is standard for Chapter 32 boards. The board oversees a portfolio Altss estimates in the $100M to $250M range. Its investment posture is not shaped by a CIO or internal investment staff; decisions flow through the five-member board, with administrative and financial support from the Town's finance department. The board participates in the Massachusetts Association of Contributory Retirement Systems (MACRS), the advocacy and education network through which Massachusetts' 104 contributory retirement boards engage on legislative and regulatory matters affecting local pension administration. Marblehead's pension architecture reflects the distinctive New England model: locally governed boards operating within a state-mandated framework, with their largest allocation placed into a centrally managed pool that eliminates the need for a standalone investment office. Unlike most single-family offices or private pensions that build proprietary sourcing networks, this board's structural differentiator is its statutory design — standardized governance, pooled execution, and a deliberate absence of full-time investment personnel. The board's operational continuity rests on the part-time service of town-elected and appointed trustees, a governance model that prioritizes local accountability over investment specialization.