State retirement plan hits $20B
North Carolina’s state retirement plan just topped a record $20 billion in assets, underscoring growing scale and sophistication among public plans reported. - That growth makes state plans a tougher competitor for rollover dollars and a potential partner for municipal‑level distribution efforts.
State Treasurer Brad Briner announced the milestone at the Supplemental Retirement Board’s Feb. 26, 2026 meeting, citing an uptick reported at the board session. nctreasurer.gov The Supplemental Retirement Plans now serve 325,714 participants across more than 1,100 public employers, a scale figure the treasurer’s office highlighted in its release. nsjonline.com The board extended an administrative fee waiver that will reduce recordkeeping costs by roughly $1.7 million over the next year and equates to about $0.10 per $1,000 held; the waiver is funded from accumulated fee reserves. nctreasurer.gov Trustees also voted to draw down an additional $2.25 million from reserves while streamlining the GoalMaker target‑date glidepath on a recommendation from the North Carolina Investment Authority and Callan. nctreasurer.gov Presentations at the meeting included a planned financial audit by UHY, benchmarking from CEM, enrollment data from Empower, and a Bank of New York Mellon briefing on AI applications for plan services. nctreasurer.gov State pension performance context released alongside the SRP update showed a 13% investment return for 2025 (ex‑fees), with equity holdings of $60.5 billion returning 21% last year, figures the treasurer’s office published. nsjonline.com Those SRP actions sit inside a broader pension program that disclosed $139 billion in total assets at Sept. 30, 2025 and recent governance changes under the newly formed North Carolina Investment Authority, according to reporting on the system’s fiscal disclosures. businessnc.com
