San Francisco Employees' Retirement System (SFERS)

What they do

Founded in 1920, SFERS administers a defined benefit pension plan and a deferred compensation plan for San Francisco's active and retired public employees. As a massive institutional Limited Partner (LP), SFERS manages a highly diversified portfolio spanning public equities, fixed income, private equity, real assets, and absolute return strategies. The system is widely recognized in the institutional ecosystem for its rigorous commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles, having formally pledged to transition its entire investment portfolio to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

What they look for

SFERS seeks to exceed its 7.20% actuarial return target over full market cycles to ensure the long-term funding of its pension obligations. It achieves this through a highly diversified, long-term asset allocation strategy with a heavy emphasis on private markets (targeting a 40% allocation across Private Equity, Real Assets, and Private Credit). As an LP, SFERS looks for top-tier external fund managers (General Partners) with proven track records in buyout, venture capital, growth equity, private credit, and real estate. They explicitly require managers to have strong ESG integration frameworks, diversity initiatives, and alignment with climate transition goals.

Stage

Ideation, Pre-seed, Seed, Series A, Series B+

Sectors

Proptech, Deeptech, Climate, SaaS, AI, Consumer

Based

San Francisco, US