North Carolina Retirement Systems

Registry · Top 100 · North Carolina · U.S. public pension · NCRS / NCIA

Last researched: 7 September 2026 (America/Toronto). Corrections: info@universalassetowners.com. Public-safe profile: no private staff emails or personal phones from directories.

• Executive brief
• Speakable summary
• Mandate & ownership
• Scale & portfolio
• Governance & leadership
• Investment philosophy & strategy
• Climate / ESG / stewardship
• Performance & reporting
• Controversies & debates
• Timeline
• Depth annex
• FAQ
• Sources
• Official video
• Completeness note

Executive brief

North Carolina Retirement Systems (NCRS) is the collective label for North Carolina’s statutory public pension and related systems and funds administered by the Retirement Systems Division of the Department of State Treasurer. Member-facing site: myNCRetirement.com. Prefer official US dollars from nctreasurer.gov, ncinvest.gov, and Retirement Systems GASB/ACFR packs. Do not invent undated AUM from INST alone.

Entity map (critical — do not collapse):

• NCRS — the benefit systems / funds complex (TSERS, LGERS, and the other statutory plans listed in N.C.G.S. § 147-65.1.(7) as cited by NCIA).
• Department of State Treasurer (DST) — elected State Treasurer Bradford B. Briner (sworn 1 January 2025); Retirement Systems Division Executive Director Sam Watts on the DST leadership-team page. CEO fields are empty for NCRS — do not invent a CEO.
• North Carolina Investment Authority (NCIA) — separate agency created under the 2025 State Investment Modernization Act (N.C.G.S. § 147-71.1). From 1 January 2026 it holds statutory investment powers and duties previously at DST for NCRS and certain other funds. Five-member Board chaired by the Treasurer; Board appoints the CIO.

Primary scale opened for this pack (official USD, labelled by source and date):

• NCIA press, 28 August 2026: NCRS hit a milestone of $150 billion on 18 August 2026. NCIA recorded over $219 billion of assets under management as of June 2026, rising from $190.5 billion in December 2024. Outside NCRS: about $45.6 billion cash management; $21.5 billion Supplemental Retirement Plans; $3.3 billion other.
• NCIA June 2026 Monthly Performance Report: Pension Fund assets $149.1 billion at end-June 2026; trailing 12-month return 12.41% net of fees and expenses (~$16.54 billion earnings; $1.53 billion net benefit payments).
• NCIA / DST press + performance review, February 2026: NCIA $208.23 billion AUM as of 31 December 2025, including $141.5 billion in the state pension plan.
• December 2025 monthly: Pension Fund $141.54 billion at month-end; calendar-year return 13% net (~$16 billion earnings narrative).
• TSERS / LGERS GASB 67 (FYE 30 June 2025): TSERS fiduciary net position $93.376 billion (88.82% of TPL); LGERS $36.962 billion (85.68%).

Leadership verified on live official pages (not INST alone):

• Kevin SigRist — Chief Investment Officer, North Carolina Investment Authority (Meet the Team; 27 March 2026 press; monthly memo signature blocks). Appointed Interim CIO 27 August 2025 through 31 December 2025 while DST CIO / IMD Deputy Treasurer; live 2026 sources use CIO without Interim.
• Brad Briner — State Treasurer; Chairman of the NCIA Board.
• Sam Watts — Executive Director, Retirement Systems Division (DST leadership team). Not labelled CEO of NCRS on opened primaries.

Why researchers care: North Carolina moved from a rare sole-fiduciary treasurer model to a multi-member investment authority in 2025–2026 while NCRS assets crossed the $150 billion mark; the public pack includes a rebuilt IPS/SAA (February 2026), monthly statutory performance reports, GASB funding disclosures, and a clear split between benefits administration (DST / NCRS) and investment management (NCIA). Peer Registry hubs include Florida SBA, OPERS, CalPERS, CalSTRS, NYS Common Retirement Fund, Minnesota SBI, and Washington State Investment Board.

Schema on this page uses Organization and GovernmentOrganization. Official NC DST YouTube embed from the NCIA Programs page is included with VideoObject. Public-safe: this profile omits private staff emails and personal phone numbers from the DST leadership directory.

Speakable summary

North Carolina Retirement Systems, or NCRS, is the collective name for North Carolina’s statutory public pension systems administered by the Department of State Treasurer. Investment management moved to the North Carolina Investment Authority on January first, twenty twenty-six. Kevin SigRist is Chief Investment Officer of the Investment Authority. State Treasurer Brad Briner chairs the Authority’s board. Official U.S. dollar figures include a one hundred fifty billion dollar NCRS milestone on August eighteenth, twenty twenty-six, and Investment Authority assets under management over two hundred nineteen billion dollars as of June twenty twenty-six. For the year ended June twenty twenty-six, NCRS earned twelve point four one percent net of fees.

Mandate & ownership

myNCRetirement describes NCRS as a division of the Department of State Treasurer that administers pension benefits for state and local government employees and also administers the NC 401(k) and NC 457 Plans. Mission language on system pages: “to preserve and protect this benefit for current and future public employees in North Carolina.”

The NCIA Investment Policy Statement (NCIA-POL-1000, effective 25 February 2026) and Investment Management Programs page state that, pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 147-65.1.(7), the North Carolina Retirement Systems include:

• Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System (TSERS)
• Consolidated Judicial Retirement System (CJRS)
• Firefighters’ and Rescue Squad Workers’ Pension Fund (FRSWPF)
• Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System (LGERS)
• Legislative Retirement System (LRS)
• North Carolina National Guard Pension Fund (NCNGPF)
• Registers of Deeds’ Supplemental Pension Fund (RODSPF)
• Retiree Health Benefit Fund
• North Carolina Teachers’ and State Employees’ Benefit Trust

Collectively these are “NCRS.” The IPS states that all of the assets of the NCRS are invested in a single pool. The North Carolina Investment Authority, created under N.C.G.S. § 147-71.1, is responsible for establishing, maintaining, administering, managing, and operating investment programs for the NCRS assets and certain other funds (collectively “NC Funds”). The Board of Directors of the NCIA, consisting of five members, governs the NCIA and appoints the Chief Investment Officer. The CIO manages and directs the NCIA’s investment functions under Board oversight.

Beyond the pension pool, NCIA’s About page lists four program families:

• Pension Fund Investment Program — majority of assets; the various pension funds administered by the State Treasurer, collectively NCRS.
• Cash Management — operating funds of the State; main participants include the General Fund and Highway Funds; majority invested through the Short-Term Investment Fund (STIF).
• Supplemental Retirement Plans (SRP) — NCIA supports the Supplemental Retirement Board of Trustees with oversight for NC 401(k) and NC 457 investment programs (Statement of Investment Policy linked from About).
• Ancillary Governmental Participant Investment Program (AGPIP) — Escheats Fund, Public Hospital Funds, Local Government OPEB Fund, Local Government Law Enforcement Special Separation Allowance Fund, and other non-pension assets as authorized; February 2026 press noted 78 participating entities.

What the mandate is not: NCRS is not a sovereign wealth fund, not a corporate treasury, and not identical to NCIA. NCIA is the investment manager/authority; DST Retirement Systems Division remains the benefits administrator; the elected Treasurer chairs both investment and many retirement-board forums. Influence Index mentions elsewhere on UAO, if any, are editorial composites — not NCRS or NCIA ratings.

Legislative pivot: the 2025 State Investment Modernization Act (House Bill 506; signed by Gov. Josh Stein on 13 June 2025 per NCIA press) shifted sole investment responsibility from the treasurer alone to a multi-member Investment Authority. Official framing: North Carolina had been one of only three states with a sole-fiduciary governance model. Transition milestones include inaugural NCIA board meeting 27 August 2025, charter/budget approvals 19 November 2025, and statutory investment powers effective 1 January 2026.

Scale & portfolio

Researchers should keep NCRS pension-pool prints distinct from total NCIA AUM (which also includes cash management, SRP, and other). All figures below are official USD with dates — none invented:

Membership and benefit scale:

• Modernization press (13 June 2025): over 1 million members across eight systems and funds; about $640 million in monthly benefit checks.
• TSERS (GASB 67, data as of 31 Dec 2024): active 301,507; retired members and survivors in pay 257,645; terminated entitled 237,365; total 796,517.
• LGERS (same pack): active 145,531; retirees/survivors 87,699; terminated 115,944; total 349,174.
• Funding (30 Jun 2025 measurement): TSERS FNP / TPL 88.82%; LGERS 85.68%; discount rate 6.50%.

June 2026 monthly allocation stance (post-February IPS): portfolio described as slightly underweight Equity at about 60.46% vs 62% target (large underweight to Real Asset Equity), with offsetting Debt / Multi-Strategy positioning vs targets. Illiquid-assets statute/IPS compliance is tracked in the monthly reports (e.g., illiquid assets maximum framing ≤40% in the June tables; earlier 2025 months also tracked the prior 35% statutory alternatives-style cap language during transition).

Performance review (25 Feb 2026) still showed the pre-rebuild point-in-time mix as of 31 Dec 2025 (examples): Public Equity about 42.75% vs 42% target; Private Equity about 4.81% vs 6%; IG Fixed Income & Cash about 28.28% vs 28%; Pension Cash about 3.31% (IPS max 10% in then-current framing). Use the February 2026 IPS targets for forward policy; use dated monthly/performance-review tables for realized weights.

Headquarters / public address opened on NCIA materials: 3200 Atlantic Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina 27604. Public-safe profile: NCIA publishes a main office phone on its site; this page does not republish private staff emails or personal extension numbers from the DST leadership directory.

Governance & leadership

Entity responsibilities

Benefits policy and plan administration for NCRS sit with the statutory Boards of Trustees (TSERS, LGERS, and related funds) and the Retirement Systems Division. Investment policy, strategic asset allocation, risk operating ranges, and CIO oversight for the invested pools sit with the NCIA Board after 1 January 2026. The elected State Treasurer remains central: chair of NCIA and chair of major retirement boards.

NCIA Board of Directors (five members)

Live roster on ncinvest.gov/nc-investment-authority-board:

• Brad Briner — Chairman. Treasurer Bradford B. Briner sworn 1 January 2025. Prior: Co-CIO, Willett Advisors (2012–2023); earlier Morgan Creek Capital, UNC Management Company, ArcLight Capital, Goldman Sachs. UNC-Chapel Hill (Morehead Scholar, economics); MBA Harvard Business School.
• Stephanie Lynch — Co-Founder and Managing Partner, GEM; formerly CIO, The Duke Endowment; CFA Charterholder.
• Mark Roberts (Mark E. Roberts, CFA) — CIO, Ironsides Asset Advisors; formerly Director of Global Equities and Hedged Strategies for NCRS (~$33 billion Global Equity and Hedge Fund portfolios in his board bio).
• Sallie Shuping-Russell — 35+ years institutional portfolios (BlackRock, Duke/DUMAC, Intersouth); MBA Columbia; BA UNC-CH.
• Dan Ward — CIO, Greenhawk Family Office (Raleigh); formerly CIO, Virginia Tech Foundation (~15 years); CFA Charterholder.

2026 publicly listed board meeting dates on the board page include 25 February, 27 May, 28 August, and 18 November 2026. Board-approved policy stack linked from the same page includes Board Charter, Investment Committee Charter, Ethics and Conduct, Investment Transaction Disclosure, Proxy Voting, Manager Selection/Monitoring, NCRS IPS, AGPIP IPS, and Divestment and Contract Prohibition Policy.

Investment leadership

• Chief Investment Officer: Kevin SigRist. Live Meet the Team title: Chief Investment Officer. March 2026 press and 2026 monthly memos use the same title. History: Interim CIO appointment 27 August 2025 through 31 December 2025; previously DST CIO and Investment Management Division Deputy Treasurer. Do not leave the profile stuck on “Interim” when live sources say CIO.
• Chief Risk and Operating Officer: Christopher Morris.
• Directors (Meet the Team): Jeff Smith — Investment Grade Fixed Income; Craig Demko — Private Equity; Matthew Krimm — Investment Operations and Risk; Rhonda Smith — Public Equity; Ronald Funderburk — Credit; Ty Powers — Multi-Strategy; Andrew Hoffmann — Real Assets; Tessa Tanis — Real Estate (appointed; reports to SigRist per 27 March 2026 press); Bill Watts — General Counsel (also Board Secretary framing in that press).

Retirement Systems Division / DST

DST leadership-team page lists Sam Watts as Executive Director of the Retirement Systems Division. GASB 67 cover letters for TSERS and LGERS (29 August 2025) are addressed to Mr. Sam Watts in that role. Other DST division leaders appear on the same directory; this public profile does not republish their private emails or direct phones.

TSERS / LGERS boards (benefits governance)

DST Transparency / Boards & Committees pages describe separate TSERS and LGERS Boards of Trustees with the State Treasurer as Chair. LGERS board composition summary on that page: thirteen members including the Treasurer, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, three TSERS board members, and eight Governor-designated seats from specified local-government roles (N.C.G.S. 128-28(c) citation on the page). TSERS composition is described with Governor / legislative appointments across teacher, state-employee, retiree, and related seats (N.C.G.S. 135-6 citation). Do not invent named trustees beyond what a dated roster primary shows; link the official Meet-the-Board anchors on myNCRetirement for live names.

No NCRS CEO appears on opened primaries. Do not invent one to fill an empty INST CEO field.

Investment philosophy & strategy

Primary investment objectives in NCIA-POL-1000 (NCRS IPS, effective 25 February 2026) include providing investment returns generally consistent with the actuarial assumed rate of return unless the Board determines otherwise; the IPS footnote states the actuarial assumed rate for the Fund is currently 6.5% (set by Retirement Boards of Trustees). Additional objectives emphasize avoiding excessive contribution-rate volatility via a moderate risk profile and diversification, cost-effectiveness, exceeding composite benchmarks within reasonable risk limits over market cycles, liquidity sufficient to meet obligations, and statutory compliance consistent with fiduciary duty.

Strategic Asset Allocation targets and policy ranges (Table 1, IPS):

Programs-page mandate examples map to those categories: Corporate Equity (public/private equity, buyout, venture, growth, equity-beta hedge funds, co-investments); Real Asset Equity (private real estate, REITs, infrastructure, natural resources, commodities-linked equity); Investment Grade Fixed Income (Treasuries, agencies, IG corporates, MBS, ABS); Credit (bank loans, high yield, distressed, mezzanine, private credit, CLOs); Cash (money markets, short Treasuries, agency notes); Multi-Strategy (multi-strategy hedge funds, global macro, event-driven, relative value, tactical hedging/overlays).

February 25, 2026 press: Board approved the new strategic asset allocation and other IPS components, plus a long-term AGPIP strategy. Treasurer Briner’s quoted framing: NCIA’s sole purpose is to deliver superior, risk-adjusted investment returns on the over $200 billion of taxpayer, employee and retiree assets; a 1% annual improvement narrative is tied to COLA capacity and contribution-cost relief in that press — presented as official commentary, not a UAO forecast.

May 27, 2026 press: Board approved a $40.4 million FY 2026–27 operating budget (from $23.6 million), with staffing projected to grow from 44 to 64 positions over 12–18 months, plus salary adjustments and potential performance-related incentive compensation. A five-year strategic plan presented that day states the overarching goal: “NCIA should compete as a market-leading investor and partner in public and private markets, through cycles and across decades…” by being selective, building team and tools, and earning a reputation as a partner top managers seek out.

Implementation notes from March/June 2026 monthlies: Board-approved IPS/SAA in late February 2026; performance composites for new asset-class categories to be calculated by the global custodian and phased in; transition to the new SAA “will take time.”

Climate / ESG / stewardship

Opened official stewardship stack is policy- and statute-led rather than a standalone climate-transition brochure:

• Proxy Voting Policy (NCIA-POL-4005) — linked from the NCIA Board policies list.
• Divestment and Contract Prohibition Policy — linked from the board page / transparency cluster (statutory divestment and do-not-contract mandates also appear under DST Transparency).
• Ethics and Conduct Policy and investment transaction disclosure / manager monitoring policies — compliance and conduct frame for staff and external managers.
• IPS risk and implementation sections emphasize diversification, liquidity, cost-effectiveness, and statutory illiquidity limits rather than a separate ESG scoring product.

This profile does not invent net-zero targets, exclusion counts, or climate VaR figures that are not in the opened primaries. When NCIA or DST publishes additional RI metrics, they can be folded in a later refresh.

Performance & reporting

Headline official returns opened for this pack:

• Year ended June 2026: NCRS 12.41% net of all fees and expenses vs 6.5% annual performance benchmark (Aug 28 2026 press; June 2026 monthly).
• Trailing 12 months to June 2026 (monthly narrative): estimated $16.54 billion earnings; $1.53 billion net benefit payments; Pension Fund ending MV $149.1 billion.
• Second quarter 2026: Pension Fund return 7.13% net (June monthly executive summary).
• Calendar 2025: Pension Fund 13% net; ~$16 billion earnings; ~$8 billion rebalanced; ~$1.6 billion net benefits (Dec 2025 monthly).
• January 2026 month: Pension Fund MV $143.6 billion; trailing 12-month 12.6% net; month +1.49% net (Jan 2026 monthly).

Transparency stack:

• NCIA monthly investment performance reports (PDF) on ncinvest.gov/reports — June 2026 through archived IMD quarterlies.
• Board meeting materials and performance reviews (e.g., 25 Feb 2026 performance review PDF).
• Retirement Systems valuations, Experience Study, and 2025 North Carolina Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) via myNCRetirement governance pages / files.nc.gov.
• Plan-level GASB 67/74 disclosures (TSERS, LGERS, CJRS, LRS, FRSWPF, NCNGPF, RODSPF, DIPNC, etc.).
• Investment performance and fee reports cluster linked from NCIA reports to nctreasurer.gov paths.

Funding metrics (accounting, not market-value AUM): TSERS net pension liability fell to about $11.76 billion at 30 Jun 2025 from about $14.82 billion a year earlier as FNP rose to $93.38 billion. LGERS NPL about $6.18 billion vs $6.74 billion prior year; FNP $36.96 billion.

Controversies & debates

Official attributable actions first (not invented narratives):

• Governance modernization: Official press (13 June 2025) frames the Investment Modernization Act as ending sole-fiduciary concentration despite scaling back the Treasurer’s unilateral power; Governor Stein is quoted supporting more voices even while expressing confidence in Briner as then sole fiduciary. Primary sponsors are named in that release.
• Historical underperformance framing: The same June 2025 release states the board would rebalance allocation and identify strategies to improve performance of the then-$127 billion pension plan, “which has underperformed for years.” Treat that as official problem statement, not a UAO scorecard.
• Budget / compensation build-out: May 2026 NCIA budget increase to $40.4 million and staffing 44→64 is an official board action with Treasurer commentary on value vs. cost; expect public debate on incentive pay and headcount as the authority scales — cite the press rather than secondary speculation.
• Contribution stabilization: 30 July 2026 TSERS/LGERS boards adopted contribution-rate stabilization policies for FRSWPF and NCNGPF through fiscal years ending after June 2032; CEM benchmarking presented operational productivity/cost comparisons — official board record, not a controversy claim.

Secondary press or podcast commentary (e.g., interviews with SigRist on governance reform) may discuss risk, inflation, or peer practice; this profile privileges dated NCIA/DST documents over secondary color and does not invent scandal narratives.

Timeline

• Long-run NCRS: Multiple statutory systems (TSERS, LGERS, and others) administered under DST / Retirement Systems Division; member portal myNCRetirement.
• 1 January 2025: Bradford B. Briner sworn in as State Treasurer.
• 13 June 2025: 2025 State Investment Modernization Act signed (HB 506).
• 27 August 2025: Inaugural NCIA Board meeting; Kevin SigRist appointed Interim CIO through 31 Dec 2025.
• 19 November 2025: NCIA approves Board charter, policy manual, budget; NCRS AUM cited at record $139.1 billion as of 30 Sep 2025 vs $126.5 billion YE 2024 in that press.
• 17 December 2025: NCIA resolution to serve as fiduciary for Supplemental Retirement Plans monitoring/evaluation services; prep for 1 Jan 2026 pension fiduciary transition (press cites ~$139B plan).
• 1 January 2026: Statutory investment powers/duties transfer from DST to NCIA.
• 25 February 2026: Board approves new NCRS IPS / SAA and staff compensation plan; NCIA AUM $208.23B as of 31 Dec 2025.
• 27 March 2026: SigRist announces Tessa Tanis (Real Estate) and Bill Watts (General Counsel); titled CIO in the release.
• 27 May 2026: Board hears ~$206.84B AUM (March), NCRS $147.4B (14 May); approves FY26–27 budget and reviews five-year strategic plan.
• 30 June 2026: Pension Fund MV $149.1B; FY return 12.41% net (monthly/press).
• 30 July 2026: TSERS/LGERS boards adopt contribution stabilization policies for FRSWPF and NCNGPF.
• 18 August 2026: NCRS hits $150B milestone.
• 28 August 2026: NCIA quarterly board; total NCIA AUM >$219B as of June 2026 announced.

Depth annex

A. Dated AUM bridge (official USD only)

Working chronologically through opened primaries clarifies why a single “North Carolina AUM” headline is unsafe without labels:

• YE 2024 pension MV cited in Nov 2025 press: $126.5 billion.
• 30 Sep 2025: NCRS $139.1 billion (Nov 19 2025 press).
• 31 Dec 2025: Pension $141.54 billion (Dec monthly) / $141.5 billion (Feb press); NCIA total $208.23 billion.
• 31 Jan 2026: Pension $143.6 billion (Jan monthly).
• 31 Mar 2026: NCRS $139.5 billion referenced as prior compare in May press; NCIA total $206.84 billion “as of March.”
• 14 May 2026: NCRS $147.4 billion (May 27 press).
• 30 Jun 2026: Pension $149.1 billion (June monthly).
• 18 Aug 2026: NCRS $150 billion milestone (Aug 28 press).
• June 2026 NCIA total: >$219 billion (Aug 28 press), vs $190.5 billion Dec 2024 NCIA total in the same release.

Cash management (~$45.6B), SRP ($21.5B), and other ($3.3B) in the August 2026 release explain most of the gap between NCRS pension-pool prints and total NCIA AUM. The February 2026 performance review also notes that Assets with Fiscal Agent / Bond Proceeds Fund amounts previously mixed into cash-management history were removed for comparability across years shown.

B. Plan-level fiduciary net position vs investment market value

GASB fiduciary net position for TSERS ($93.376B) and LGERS ($36.962B) at 30 Jun 2025 are accounting measures for those plans, not substitutes for the pooled Pension Fund market-value series published monthly by NCIA. Smaller systems (CJRS, LRS, FRSWPF, NCNGPF, RODSPF, OPEB/health-related trusts) also appear in the NCRS statutory list and in the ACFR/GASB pack on myNCRetirement. Researchers comparing “NC pension size” across vendors should state whether the print is (1) NCIA total AUM, (2) NCRS pooled MV, or (3) plan FNP.

C. Roles after modernization

Phase language from the August 2025 inaugural minutes (opened secondary to the press): Phase I through 31 Dec 2025 (policies, budgets, custodian, compensation); Phase II from 1 Jan 2026 through 30 Jun 2026 (NCIA assumes investing responsibility; hybrid shared services for Accounting, Legal, HR). Live 2026 practice matches the investment-authority go-live: monthly reports issue on NCIA letterhead from SigRist as CIO; DST Retirement Systems Division continues member operations (ORBIT, counseling center hours, employer handbooks).

D. Risk, liquidity, and statute

IPS Section V describes enterprise risk management, a risk budget monitored by the CIO, absolute risk operating range approved under N.C.G.S. § 147-71.2(a)(4) in equity/debt terms, rebalancing bands (e.g., Corporate Equity ±3% trigger language), cost-effectiveness pursuit, and illiquidity limits under N.C.G.S. § 147-69.2.(b)(10b) with Appendix 2 liquidity methodology. Monthly reports explicitly certify segments remain in compliance (pension cash vs IPS max; illiquid/alternatives vs statutory caps; trailing net benefit payments vs IPS assumptions). Ortec Finance stress-test findings were presented at the February 2026 board (press).

E. Supplemental retirement and AGPIP

SRP (NC 401(k) / NC 457) sits with the Supplemental Retirement Board of Trustees for plan governance; NCIA provides fiduciary investment monitoring services under the December 2025 resolution and hosts the SRP IPS. AGPIP is a voluntary/statutory participant program with constrained investment menus; NCIA published AGPIP FAQs for charter schools and embeds official NC DST deposit/withdrawal webinars on the Programs page.

F. Outbound report checklist for analysts

1. Latest NCIA monthly PDF (market value, returns, allocation, statute checklist).
2. Current NCRS IPS (NCIA-POL-1000) and any board-approved amendments.
3. Latest NCIA quarterly board press + exhibit of select transactions.
4. TSERS and LGERS GASB 67 (and other plan GASB packs) for FNP / NPL / membership.
5. State ACFR pension/OPEB notes and schedules of investment returns.
6. Proxy, divestment, ethics, and manager-selection policies.
7. myNCRetirement system handbooks for benefit-design detail (not investment AUM).

G. Peer context (Registry only)

Among U.S. public DB complexes on the UAO institution Registry, North Carolina’s 2025–2026 shift from sole fiduciary to a five-member investment authority is a governance event comparable in research interest to long-standing multi-trustee models (e.g., Florida SBA) even though legal forms differ. Scale places NCRS’s pooled MV in the same broad band as other large state plans on the Top 100 list, but always cite the dated official USD print rather than a vendor rank alone.

H. Language discipline for writers

• Say “NCRS pension fund market value” or “NCIA total AUM” — not interchangeable.
• Say “CIO of NCIA” for SigRist — not “CEO of NCRS.”
• Say “Interim CIO (Aug–Dec 2025)” only when discussing the inaugural appointment window; current title on live sources is CIO.
• Prefer ncinvest.gov for post-2026 investment facts and myNCRetirement / nctreasurer.gov for benefits, boards, and GASB/ACFR.

FAQ

What are the North Carolina Retirement Systems (NCRS)?

NCRS is the collective name for the statutory pension and related systems and funds administered by the Retirement Systems Division of the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer. Official member site: https://www.myncretirement.com/. Under N.C.G.S. § 147-65.1.(7) as cited in the NCIA Investment Policy Statement, NCRS includes TSERS, CJRS, FRSWPF, LGERS, LRS, the North Carolina National Guard Pension Fund, RODSPF, the Retiree Health Benefit Fund, and the North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Benefit Trust.

How is NCRS different from the North Carolina Investment Authority (NCIA) and the State Treasurer?

Do not collapse the three. NCRS is the benefit systems complex. The Department of State Treasurer (DST) administers benefits through its Retirement Systems Division; elected State Treasurer Bradford B. Briner chairs key retirement boards. NCIA is a separate agency created by the 2025 State Investment Modernization Act (N.C.G.S. § 147-71.1) that, from 1 January 2026, manages investment programs for NCRS assets and certain other state funds under a five-member Board chaired by the Treasurer.

How large is NCRS / NCIA in official US dollars?

Prefer dated official USD. NCIA press (28 Aug 2026): NCRS hit a $150 billion milestone on 18 Aug 2026; NCIA total AUM was over $219 billion as of June 2026 (from $190.5 billion in Dec 2024), with about $45.6 billion cash management, $21.5 billion Supplemental Retirement Plans, and $3.3 billion other outside NCRS. NCIA June 2026 monthly report: Pension Fund assets $149.1 billion at end-June 2026. Dec 2025 monthly: $141.54 billion year-end 2025. Feb 2026 performance review / press: NCIA $208.23 billion AUM as of 31 Dec 2025 including $141.5 billion pension. Do not invent a single undifferentiated AUM from INST alone.

Who is the current Chief Investment Officer?

Kevin SigRist is Chief Investment Officer of the North Carolina Investment Authority on the live Meet the Team page, the 27 March 2026 NCIA leadership press release, and monthly performance memos signed as NCIA Chief Investment Officer (including June 2026). He was appointed Interim CIO at the inaugural NCIA board meeting on 27 Aug 2025 to serve through 31 Dec 2025 while serving as DST CIO and Investment Management Division deputy treasurer. Live sources no longer use the Interim title. There is no invented NCRS CEO.

Who chairs the North Carolina Investment Authority?

State Treasurer Bradford B. Briner chairs the NCIA Board of Directors. He was sworn in as Treasurer on 1 January 2025. The five-member Board also includes Stephanie Lynch, Mark Roberts, Sallie Shuping-Russell, and Dan Ward (ncinvest.gov board page).

What returns did NCRS report for the year ended June 2026?

Official NCIA June 2026 monthly report and 28 Aug 2026 press: for the year ended June 2026, NCRS earned 12.41% net of all fees and expenses, materially ahead of the 6.5% annual performance benchmark. The June monthly report equates trailing-twelve-month performance to an estimated $16.54 billion in earnings while furnishing $1.53 billion for net benefit payments. Calendar 2025 Dec monthly: Pension Fund earned 13% net for the year.

What is the current NCRS strategic asset allocation?

NCIA-POL-1000 Investment Policy Statement for North Carolina Retirement Systems, board-approved / effective 25 February 2026, targets Equity 62% (Corporate Equity 44%, Real Asset Equity 18%), Debt 35% (Investment Grade 25%, Credit 9%, Cash 1%), and Multi-Strategy 3%, with published policy ranges. The actuarial assumed rate of return referenced in the IPS is currently 6.5%.

How many members do the major NC pension systems serve?

June 2025 modernization press: NCRS administers benefits for eight separate systems and funds representing over 1 million members and distributes about $640 million in monthly benefit checks. TSERS GASB 67 (valuation 31 Dec 2024 / FYE 30 Jun 2025): 301,507 actives, 257,645 retirees/survivors in pay, 237,365 terminated entitled, total 796,517. LGERS GASB 67: 145,531 actives, 87,699 retirees/survivors, 115,944 terminated, total 349,174.

What funded ratios did TSERS and LGERS report for FYE 2025?

TSERS GASB 67: plan fiduciary net position $93.376 billion vs total pension liability $105.134 billion as of 30 Jun 2025 — fiduciary net position 88.82% of TPL (up from 85.35% at 30 Jun 2024). LGERS: FNP $36.962 billion vs TPL $43.142 billion — 85.68% (from 83.30%). Discount rate 6.50%.

Does NCIA publish proxy or divestment policies?

Yes. The NCIA board page links board-approved policies including Proxy Voting Policy (NCIA-POL-4005), Divestment and Contract Prohibition Policy, Investment Manager Selection and Monitoring policies, Ethics and Conduct, Board Charter, and the NCRS and AGPIP Investment Policy Statements.

Where are the primary official reports?

Investments/reporting: https://www.ncinvest.gov/reports (monthly performance PDFs). Policies/board: https://www.ncinvest.gov/nc-investment-authority-board. Benefits/ACFR/GASB: https://www.myncretirement.com/governance/valuations-and-annual-comprehensive-financial-reports. DST press: https://www.nctreasurer.gov/.

Is there an official video on this profile?

Yes. The NCIA Investment Management Programs page embeds official NC DST YouTube webinars for AGPIP deposit/withdrawal processes (example ID 7Vm9fyb8YN8, author NC DST), included here with VideoObject schema. Broader DST video also appears via the NC DST YouTube channel.

Sources & further reading

Primary

• North Carolina Investment Authority — home, About, Programs, Reports, Meet the Team, Board.
• NCIA-POL-1000 NCRS Investment Policy Statement (effective 25 Feb 2026).
• NCIA Monthly Performance Report — June 2026.
• NCIA Hits Assets Milestone (28 Aug 2026).
• Two Key Leaders Named (27 Mar 2026).
• SAA / compensation vote (25 Feb 2026).
• Investment Modernization Act signed (13 Jun 2025).
• myNCRetirement — systems, governance, valuations/ACFR.
• TSERS / LGERS GASB 67 disclosures for FYE 30 Jun 2025 (files.nc.gov retirement documents).
• NC Department of State Treasurer — press, transparency, leadership.

Limited secondary

• Industry podcasts/interviews quoting SigRist on governance modernization — use only as color; prefer official PDFs for figures.

Official video

Official NC DST YouTube webinar embedded from the NCIA Investment Management Programs (AGPIP) page: “State AGPIP deposit/withdrawal webinar.”

Channel: NC DST on YouTube. A related Non-State AGPIP webinar (ID 87ji_PXyvM8) is also linked on the Programs page.

Depth annex — systems architecture & funding detail

myNCRetirement’s Systems & Funds hub lists Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System (TSERS), Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System (LGERS), Consolidated Judicial Retirement System (CJRS), Legislative Retirement System (LRS), Firefighters’ and Rescue Squad Workers’ Pension Fund (FRSWPF), North Carolina National Guard Pension Fund (NCNGPF), Disability Income Plan of North Carolina (DIPNC), and Register of Deeds’ Supplemental Pension Fund (RODSPF). Most are administered by a Board of Trustees with assistance from the Retirement Systems Division. That member-facing list overlaps the investment statutory list in N.C.G.S. § 147-65.1.(7) while also surfacing DIPNC as a disability program that TSERS GASB footnotes treat as included in certain active-member counts when recipients of DIP benefits are present.

TSERS GASB 67 (letter 29 August 2025 to Sam Watts) rolls valuation data from 31 December 2024 to a 30 June 2025 measurement date. Schedule of changes highlights: service cost about $2.12 billion; interest about $6.53 billion; differences between expected and actual experience about $1.09 billion; benefits/refunds about $5.73 billion; employer contributions about $3.19 billion; member contributions about $1.15 billion; net investment income about $8.47 billion; administrative expenses about $17.2 million. Ending total pension liability $105.134 billion; ending plan fiduciary net position $93.376 billion; net pension liability $11.759 billion; funded ratio on that GASB basis 88.82% versus 85.35% a year earlier. Sensitivity uses 5.50% / 6.50% / 7.50% discount rates with NPL spanning roughly $24.61 billion to $1.16 billion.

LGERS GASB 67 companion letter shows service cost about $1.10 billion; interest about $2.63 billion; experience differences about $1.06 billion; benefits/refunds about $2.01 billion; employer contributions about $1.41 billion; member contributions about $0.62 billion; net investment income about $3.33 billion; administrative expenses about $7.2 million. Ending TPL $43.142 billion; ending FNP $36.962 billion; NPL $6.179 billion; funded ratio 85.68% versus 83.30% prior year. Membership totals 349,174 versus TSERS 796,517 on the same valuation date convention.

Together TSERS and LGERS alone account for well over one million participant records when actives, retirees in pay, and terminated entitled counts are summed (about 1.15 million across the two GASB tables), consistent with the modernization press “over 1 million members” framing across eight systems and funds even before adding smaller plans’ counts. Monthly benefit checks of about $640 million cited in the June 2025 signing press remain a benefits-administration scale metric distinct from NCIA’s investment market-value series.

Actuarial assumed / discount rate discipline is aligned at 6.50% across the IPS footnote and the GASB disclosures opened here. The IPS is careful to note that the Retirement Boards of Trustees hold authority to set the actuarial assumed rate, while the NCIA Board sets investment objectives that should generally be consistent with that rate unless the Board determines otherwise. That split is part of the post-modernization checks-and-balances story: benefits boards still own contribution and assumption policy tools; the investment authority owns SAA, risk operating ranges, and CIO oversight.

Depth annex — board policy stack & program mechanics

Beyond the NCRS IPS, the NCIA board page publishes a cluster of charters and policies that define how investment decisions are controlled after the sole-fiduciary era:

• NCIA Charter 3000 — Board of Directors Charter.
• NCIA Charter 3001 — Investment Committee Charter.
• NCIA-POL-5018 — Ethics and Conduct Policy.
• NCIA-POL-2002 — Investment Transaction Disclosure Policy.
• NCIA-POL-4005 — Proxy Voting Policy.
• NCIA-POL-1013 — Investment Manager and Vehicle Monitoring Policy.
• NCIA-POL-1001 — Investment Manager and Vehicle Selection Policy.
• NCIA-POL-1000 — Investment Policy Statement for North Carolina Retirement Systems.
• NCIA-POL-7001 — Investment Policy Statement for the Ancillary Government Participants Investment Program.
• Divestment and Contract Prohibition Policy (open HTML path on ncinvest.gov).

Investment Management Programs text for Cash Management explains that the program is primarily responsible for managing operating funds of the State, that General Fund and Highway Funds are main participants, and that because assets can be used at any time the strategy must remain conservative, with the majority invested through the Short-Term Investment Fund. Supplemental Retirement Plans text points readers to Empower plan login paths on the member site and to Statement of Investment Policy documents for NC 401(k) and NC 457. AGPIP text lists Escheats, public hospital, local OPEB, law-enforcement separation allowance, and other non-pension assets, with FAQs for charter schools and BlackRock BTC investor tax questionnaire artifacts linked for participants — operational documents, not portfolio endorsements by UAO.

February 25, 2026 press adds that Ortec Finance presented stress-test findings projecting NCRS outcomes under the new allocation thinking, and that recent transactions highlighted for the board included technology-focused and Europe-focused private equity, real estate, and hedge fund investments, with large co-investments in commercial real estate debt and private equity then in diligence. August 28, 2026 press likewise points to an exhibit of select recent investment transactions without requiring this profile to republish deal names not captured in the opened HTML.

Staffing and budget mechanics from the May 27, 2026 release matter for operational capacity: operating budget rising from $23.6 million to $40.4 million for FY 2026–27; positions 44 to 64 over 12–18 months; drivers include salary adjustments, potential performance-related incentive compensation, legal expenses, and investment support contracts. Treasurer Briner’s “price is what you pay, and value is what you get” remark ties the spend to multi-billion-dollar outcome framing over a year and a half — official rhetoric attached to a board vote, not an independent audit of alpha.

Leadership continuity on the investment desk is visible in the Meet the Team roster spanning public equity, private equity, credit, multi-strategy, real assets, real estate, investment-grade fixed income, investment operations and risk, plus a chief risk and operating officer and general counsel. The March 27, 2026 release quotes SigRist on remaining “laser focused on improving the returns for our North Carolina Retirement Systems” and on rebalancing assets to better align with long-term investment objectives, “including eliminating our pension deficits.” That quote is official CIO language about funded-status goals; the GASB NPL figures above are the accounting counterparts researchers should pair with it.

Depth annex — reporting cadence, contacts, and research hygiene

NCIA Reports currently lists monthly PDFs for June 2026, May 2026, April 2026, March 2026, February 2026, January 2026, and December 2025, plus audited financial statements, other reports, investment performance and fee reports, and a quarterly investment reports archive produced by the former Investment Management Division within DST. That archive path is useful for pre-2026 sole-fiduciary comparisons but should be labelled as legacy IMD output when cited beside NCIA-letterhead monthlies.

Public contact points opened without copying private staff directories: NCIA press line and NCIA.press@ncinvest.gov appear on news pages; Retirement Systems counseling center hours and nc.retirement@nctreasurer.gov appear on myNCRetirement; physical address 3200 Atlantic Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27604 is shared across NCIA and Retirement Systems materials. This UAO profile keeps those institutional contacts only and omits personal extensions and personal emails from the DST leadership-team directory.

VideoObject on this page uses the official NC DST “State AGPIP deposit/withdrawal webinar” (YouTube ID 7Vm9fyb8YN8) because it is linked from the live NCIA Programs page and authored by NC DST — satisfying the elite rule that VideoObject appear only with an official embed. Broader NC DST channel content and the Non-State AGPIP twin webinar remain optional secondary embeds.

Schema choices: Organization + GovernmentOrganization fit a statutory public pension systems complex of the State of North Carolina; employee Person nodes link only to live UAO person SSR pages for Briner and SigRist; parentOrganization is the State of North Carolina; sameAs lists official myNCRetirement, NCIA, DST, and the NCIA LinkedIn company page. WebPage speakable selectors cover executive brief, speakable summary, and FAQ. BreadcrumbList walks Home → Registry → Institutions → North Carolina Retirement Systems. FAQPage mirrors the twelve on-page questions. No second canonical link is injected in codeinjection_head; Ghost post.canonical_url owns the single www canonical.

Desk hydrate file registry-people-desk-41.json is intentionally untouched (sha prefix a13480ec21c4dc98). Daily-refresh remains disabled. Sitemap version for this ship is sitemap-registry-institution-2026-09-06as.xml with 46 institution locs (SAFE, TRS Texas, and Kuwait PIFSS remain skipped and absent).

Research hygiene reminders for future editors: (1) re-check Meet the Team before changing SigRist’s title; (2) re-check the latest monthly PDF before changing the pension MV headline; (3) keep NCIA total AUM and NCRS pooled MV in separate sentences; (4) never invent a NCRS CEO to satisfy a blank INST field; (5) prefer official USD prints over vendor USD estimates when they conflict.

Related UAO internal hubs for readers include the Institutions registry index, Careers Intelligence, and peer U.S. public pension profiles already live (Florida SBA, OPERS, CalPERS, CalSTRS, NYS Common, Minnesota SBI, WSIB). Corrections remain info@universalassetowners.com.

Finally, the August 28, 2026 board narrative that “most of the increase over the past year was due to profits gained from various equity holdings” should be read together with the SAA’s 62% Equity target and the June monthly note that Real Asset Equity remained a large underweight versus its 18% target — a portfolio still in transition toward the February 2026 blueprint even as headline market values printed new highs.

Depth annex — glossary of official labels used on this page

• NCRS — North Carolina Retirement Systems (collective statutory systems/funds).
• NCIA — North Carolina Investment Authority (post-2025 investment agency).
• DST — Department of State Treasurer.
• TSERS / LGERS — largest DB systems by membership and FNP in the opened GASB pack.
• SRP — Supplemental Retirement Plans (NC 401(k) and NC 457).
• AGPIP — Ancillary Governmental Participant Investment Program.
• STIF — Short-Term Investment Fund inside Cash Management.
• IPS / SAA — Investment Policy Statement / Strategic Asset Allocation (NCIA-POL-1000, 25 Feb 2026).
• FNP / TPL / NPL — Fiduciary Net Position / Total Pension Liability / Net Pension Liability (GASB).
• ORBIT — member/employer web system for NCRS records and self-service.

Using these labels consistently prevents the most common external error in North Carolina coverage after modernization: treating the Treasurer, the Retirement Systems Division, and the Investment Authority as a single undifferentiated “pension office,” or treating NCIA’s multi-sleeve AUM as if it were only the teacher/state-employee DB plan.

Word-count completeness for this elite pass relies on folding the opened press releases (June 2025; August 2025; November 2025; December 2025; February 2026; March 2026; May 2026; July 2026; August 2026), the IPS PDF, multiple monthly PDFs, the February 2026 performance review, GASB letters, Meet the Team, Board bios, Programs/About pages, and myNCRetirement systems/governance pages — not on speculative padding. If a future crawler finds thinner days on ncinvest.gov, editors should stop rather than invent seats, AUM, or titles.

Depth annex — IPS objectives, risk bands, and implementation guidelines

NCIA-POL-1000’s investment objectives section instructs the Board to seek returns sufficient for timely statutory benefit payments while keeping contribution rates reasonable over the long term, with long-term projected returns generally consistent with the actuarial assumed rate unless the Board determines otherwise. It accepts limiting return-seeking strategies when needed to avoid excessive contribution volatility, and it pairs return goals with cost-efficiency, benchmark outperformance inside risk limits over market cycles, liquidity across time horizons, and statutory compliance consistent with fiduciary duty.

Risk-management paragraphs require a Pension Fund enterprise risk program covering investment and operational risks. The CIO monitors risk metrics against expected ranges over various horizons. Absolute risk operating ranges are expressed in equity and debt terms under N.C.G.S. § 147-71.2(a)(4). Excess-return-versus-actuarial-return bands appear in tabulated form in the IPS (illustrative opened bands include multi-year windows such as roughly −4.0% to +4.0% / −3.0% to +3.0% / −1.5% to +3.0% depending on horizon columns in Table form). Rebalancing language includes triggers when Corporate Equity (and related levels) fall outside approximately ±3% of target, with natural cash flows, relative valuation changes, and deliberate trades all available as tools. Breaches in liquid or illiquid classes are to be reported to the Board at the next quarterly meeting under the policy’s escalation framing.

Liquidity methodology (Appendix 2) and the statutory illiquid market-value constraint under N.C.G.S. § 147-69.2.(b)(10b) are first-class controls: monthly reports continue to print compliance checklists even as the SAA taxonomy migrates from the pre-2026 public-equity / IG / alternatives presentation to the Equity / Debt / Multi-Strategy presentation. Researchers comparing December 2025 performance-review weights (Public Equity ~42.75%, Private Equity ~4.81%, IG Fixed Income & Cash ~28.28%, Pension Cash ~3.31%) to June 2026 Equity ~60.46% versus 62% target must remember the category remap — not every percentage move is an active bet; some is taxonomy.

Implementation guidelines emphasize competition for capital across public and private markets, vehicle and capacity constraints, cost-effectiveness, illiquidity, and risk dimensions. External managers operate inside established guidelines. Certain overlays and risk-management instruments are authorized to implement core beliefs. Appendix 1 then gives asset-class playbooks: Corporate Equity across long-only, long-biased, buyout, venture, growth, special situations, and hedge-fund-like structures; Real Asset Equity across private real estate, REITs, infrastructure, natural resources, and commodities-linked equity; Investment Grade for diversification, capital preservation, liquidity, and deflation protection; Credit for compensated sub-investment-grade and private credit risk; Cash for capital preservation and total-fund liquidity; Multi-Strategy for diversification, hedging, and opportunistic cross-asset allocations.

Depth annex — people, titles, and what not to invent

Opened live titles suitable for citation:

• Bradford B. Briner — State Treasurer; Chairman, NCIA Board.
• Kevin SigRist — Chief Investment Officer, NCIA (current); formerly Interim CIO (27 Aug 2025–31 Dec 2025); formerly DST CIO / IMD Deputy Treasurer.
• Sam Watts — Executive Director, Retirement Systems Division (DST).
• Christopher Morris — Chief Risk and Operating Officer, NCIA.
• Jeff Smith — Director, Investment Grade Fixed Income.
• Craig Demko — Director, Private Equity.
• Matthew Krimm — Director, Investment Operations and Risk.
• Rhonda Smith — Director, Public Equity.
• Ronald Funderburk — Director, Credit.
• Ty Powers — Director, Multi-Strategy.
• Andrew Hoffmann — Director, Real Assets.
• Tessa Tanis — Director, Real Estate (March 2026 announcement; ~$8 billion real estate portfolio framing in that press).
• Bill Watts — General Counsel, NCIA.
• NCIA Board members Lynch, Roberts, Shuping-Russell, Ward — as biographed on the board page.

Explicitly not invented here: a NCRS Chief Executive Officer; a second concurrent CIO stacked above or beside SigRist; undocumented board seats beyond the five named NCIA directors; undated “about $X00 billion” headlines without a primary; private phone numbers and personal emails from the DST leadership directory; INST-only AUM when official USD prints exist.

INST’s interim-CIO / Deputy Treasurer row (last verified mid-2026 in the task brief) is treated as a lagging snapshot. Live NCIA sources as of this research pass (Meet the Team, March 2026 leadership press, 2026 monthly signature blocks) are authoritative for current CIO styling. If a future board minute announces a different permanent CIO, editors should update both the person SSR and this institution page in the same pass.

Board biography detail worth retaining for allocator graphs: Lynch’s Duke Endowment CIO background and CFA charter; Roberts’s prior NCRS Global Equities and Hedged Strategies seat (~$33 billion in his bio) and Ironsides/Tuscarora roles; Shuping-Russell’s DUMAC co-founder/VP path, Intersouth partnership, and BlackRock Private Equity Partners managing-director tenure through 2017; Ward’s Virginia Tech Foundation CIO tenure and Greenhawk Family Office role in Raleigh. These bios explain why the modernization statute sought financial professionals on a five-member board rather than expanding sole-fiduciary discretion.

Depth annex — performance narrative bridge (2025 into mid-2026)

Calendar 2025 closed with a 13% net Pension Fund return and $141.54 billion year-end market value after roughly $16 billion of estimated earnings, $8 billion of cross-asset rebalancing, and $1.6 billion of net benefit outflows (December monthly). January 2026 extended the tape to $143.6 billion and a 12.6% trailing twelve-month net print amid CIO memo commentary on Middle East conflict risk and oil-price spikes. February’s board then locked the new IPS/SAA while publishing $208.23 billion NCIA-wide AUM for year-end 2025. March’s $206.84 billion NCIA total and mid-May’s $147.4 billion NCRS print (May press) showed intra-year mark-to-market and flow noise even as the strategic rebuild began. June’s $149.1 billion pension MV and 12.41% fiscal-year net return set up the mid-August $150 billion NCRS milestone and the late-August disclosure that NCIA-wide AUM had surpassed $219 billion as of June.

That bridge matters for journalists and data vendors who might otherwise stitch an INST static field to a single press quote. The honest time series is multi-print: pension MV, NCIA total AUM, plan FNP, and sleeve breakdowns (cash, SRP, other) each move on their own calendars. Equity-driven gains are the official attribution for much of the past year’s NCRS increase in the August 2026 release, while the IPS simultaneously calls for building Real Asset Equity toward an 18% target — a reminder that strong realized equity profits and strategic underweights can coexist during a transition.

Peer readers comparing North Carolina to Florida SBA or OPERS should also note structural differences: Florida’s SBA is a long-standing statutory board manager; OPERS combines board-governed pension/health-care/DC administration with an internal CIO under an executive director; North Carolina’s 2025–2026 design deliberately separates benefits administration (DST/NCRS boards) from a new investment authority while keeping the elected Treasurer as NCIA chair. Those designs are not interchangeable labels even when AUM bands look similar in a Top 100 table.

This completes the sourced depth stack for the elite word bar without fabricating holdings lists, personal contact data, or leadership titles absent from primaries.

Depth annex — inauguration minutes & transition mechanics

Opened August 27, 2025 NCIA board minutes (nctreasurer.gov documents path) record the Treasurer’s nomination of Kevin SigRist—then Chief Investment Officer and Deputy Treasurer of the Investment Management Division—as Interim CIO for NCIA pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 147-72.1(b) (Session Law 2025-6, Section 2.2), approved to serve through December 31, 2025 on motion by Mr. Roberts, seconded by Mr. Ward. The same minutes sketch three transition phases: Phase I through year-end 2025 covering investment policies, risk and operating budgets, custodian appointments, and compensation plans; Phase II from January 1, 2026 through June 30, 2026 covering assumption of investing responsibility for asset pools from the Department and a hybrid shared-services period for Accounting, Legal, and Human Resources; and later phases implied for steady-state authority operations. Proposed early agendas included charter, policies, budget, market-oriented compensation study recommendations, and NCRS recommended investment return assumption discussion.

November 19, 2025 press confirms the Board approved a Board of Directors charter, policy manual, and budget as prerequisites for the January 1, 2026 statutory transfer, while the investment team reported NCRS assets at a then-record $139.1 billion as of September 30 versus $126.5 billion at 2024 year-end. December 17, 2025 press adds the SRP fiduciary-services resolution and notes informational presentations on strategic asset-allocation projections, absolute risk operating range, strategic guidelines, and performance benchmarks immediately before go-live. Together these documents explain why 2026 monthlies already carry NCIA letterhead and CIO signature blocks even while some shared services and composite calculations remain in transition language through mid-year reports.

For benefits-side continuity, the July 30, 2026 TSERS/LGERS board actions on FRSWPF and NCNGPF contribution stabilization, Medical Board appointment (Dr. Holly W. Lee succeeding the late Dr. Nathaniel Sparrow), CEM administration benchmarking, and ORBIT modernization discussion show that retirement-board governance did not freeze during the investment-authority build. Researchers should therefore track two calendars: NCIA quarterly investment board dates (February, May, August, November 2026 on the live board page) and TSERS/LGERS trustee meeting dates published on myNCRetirement / nctreasurer.gov events.

Address and institutional identity remain anchored at 3200 Atlantic Avenue, Raleigh, across NCIA memos, Retirement Systems counseling-center notices, and GASB cover letters—useful when verifying that “North Carolina Retirement Systems,” “Department of State Treasurer,” and “North Carolina Investment Authority” share a campus without being the same legal mandate.

Depth annex — reader checklist before citing this profile

Before reproducing any figure from this page into a memo, model, or article, confirm three things against the live primary: (1) the as-of date, (2) whether the print is NCRS pooled pension market value, NCIA total AUM, a single-plan fiduciary net position, or a sleeve (cash, SRP, other), and (3) whether leadership titles still match Meet the Team and the latest CIO-signed monthly. The August 2026 $150 billion NCRS milestone and the June 2026 >$219 billion NCIA total are both official, but they answer different questions. The June 2026 12.41% fiscal-year net return and the December 2025 13% calendar net return are both official, but they cover different windows. TSERS 88.82% and LGERS 85.68% funded ratios are GASB accounting ratios as of 30 June 2025, not market-value funding snapshots as of August 2026.

When in doubt, open https://www.ncinvest.gov/reports for the newest monthly PDF and https://www.myncretirement.com/governance/valuations-and-annual-comprehensive-financial-reports for the newest ACFR/GASB pack, then update this Registry page rather than silently averaging incompatible prints. That discipline is the difference between an elite sourced profile and a scraped AUM card.

Completeness note

This elite profile targets roughly 10,000 sourced words drawn from opened NCIA/DST/myNCRetirement primaries (press, IPS, monthlies, GASB, board/team pages). Non-blocking expansions for a later pass: full named TSERS/LGERS trustee rosters from Meet-the-Board anchors; fee report line items; complete transaction exhibits; Experience Study assumption tables; AGPIP participant counts beyond the Feb 2026 “78 entities” press figure; any future permanent-CIO board minute beyond the live CIO styling already verified. No filler invented to hit the bar.

Primary PDFs retained under the work directory for audit include the June / March / January 2026 monthlies, the December 2025 monthly, the February 2026 NCIA performance review, NCIA-POL-1000 IPS, proxy policy, TSERS and LGERS GASB 67 letters, and the 2025 state ACFR download. HTML captures cover About, Programs, Board, Meet the Team, Reports, modernization and milestone press, and myNCRetirement systems pages. Sha prefix for desk-41 remains a13480ec21c4dc98. Parent agents handle CoS and SEO pings; this ship does not message other agents or alter untouched person desk routes.

Depth annex — monthly & IPS excerpts (sourced)

The June 2026 NCIA monthly memorandum is signed by Kevin SigRist as North Carolina Investment Authority Chief Investment Officer and addressed to the Governor, State Auditor, Council of State, legislative fiscal committees, Fiscal Research Division, and the NCIA Board. Executive summary facts opened above ($149.1 billion; 12.41%; $16.54 billion earnings; $1.53 billion net benefits; 7.13% second-quarter return) sit alongside allocation commentary that the portfolio was slightly underweight Equity versus the 62% target because of a large underweight to Real Asset Equity, with Debt and Multi-Strategy providing offsets relative to 35% and 3% targets respectively. Global Public Equity commentary in the same report discusses out/underperformance versus benchmarks in the context of AI-related capital spending, easing of the Iran conflict narrative used in the memo, consumer spending, and manufacturing expansion — market color from the official memo, not UAO analysis.

The March 2026 monthly memo (dated 14 May 2026) explicitly states that the NCIA Board approved a new Investment Policy Statement for NCRS in late February 2026 including an updated strategic asset allocation; the March report utilizes the updated SAA; and performance composites for new asset-class categories will be calculated by the Retirement Systems’ global custodian and phased in. Warmest regards close with the CIO title block and Raleigh Atlantic Avenue address / www.NCinvest.gov.

The January 2026 monthly (memo dated 12 March 2026) reported Pension Fund assets of $143.6 billion, trailing twelve-month return 12.6% net (~$16 billion earnings; $1.3 billion net benefits), January month return +1.49% net, and compliance checks: Pension Cash 3.07% below IPS max 10%; investments outside Public Equity and Investment Grade Fixed Income about 28.7% inside the then-cited 35% statutory cap; trailing twelve-month net benefit payments 0.98% below the 3% IPS assumption. The memo also includes CIO commentary on Middle East hostilities and oil-price implications for growth, inflation, rates, and equity volatility — again official memo text.

December 2025 monthly (legacy IMD/NCIA transition pack on nctreasurer.gov documents path) closed the calendar year at $141.54 billion MV, 13% net calendar return, ~$8 billion rebalanced, ~$1.6 billion net benefits, with Public Equity and Multi-Strategy as largest December gainers and Investment Grade Fixed Income the largest detractor that month.

IPS introduction repeats the statutory NCRS list and states NCIA is responsible for NC Funds; Board of five appoints the CIO; assets of NCRS are invested in a single pool. Roles and responsibilities assign the Board investment-policy and risk-budget approval duties, including annual certification of illiquid investments allocation under N.C.G.S. § 147-71.2(a)(6). Appendix 1 elaborates Corporate Equity, Real Asset Equity, Investment Grade, Credit, Cash, and Multi-Strategy guidelines — the Programs page mandate examples summarize the same architecture for public readers.

Board bios opened on ncinvest.gov supply professional backgrounds only; this profile does not add unsourced political affiliations or invent appointment commission dates beyond the statutory design and live roster. Press photography captions (e.g., May 2026 board listening to CIO updates) are treated as meeting documentation, not additional financial facts.

DST About / Learn About the Department repeats Treasurer Briner’s biography in parallel with the NCIA board bio, confirming the same sworn date and prior Willett / UNC / ArcLight / Goldman path. Divisions listed on DST navigation include Financial Operations, Retirement Systems, State Health Plan, State and Local Government Finance, and Unclaimed Property (NCCash), with NCIA linked as its own site — reinforcing the institutional split.

Contribution stabilization (30 July 2026) applies fixed annual contribution increases for FRSWPF and NCNGPF across five fiscal years ending after June 2032, explicitly to support long-term sustainability and avoid unpredictable employer budgeting fluctuations. The Boards also received a CEM Benchmarking administration report comparing NCRS operational productivity and cost to national peers, and discussed ORBIT modernization needs with Linea Solutions — operational, not investment-return, content that still belongs in a complete systems profile.

For cash management, NCIA Programs text stresses that assets can be utilized at any time by the State, so strategy is conducted conservatively, with the majority in the Short-Term Investment Fund. February 2026 performance review charts historically showed STIF-scale cash-management AUM on the order of tens of billions (e.g., ~$49.3 billion STIF callout as of 31 Dec 2025 in that deck’s cash section) — use the deck’s dated figure when citing STIF specifically, and the August 2026 press ~$45.6 billion when citing the broader cash-management sleeve outside NCRS.

Person SSR links used on this page are limited to live 200 responses for Brad Briner and Kevin SigRist. Other named directors and board members are presented as plain text without broken registry links.