Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System

What Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System does

The Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System (LACERS) is a public pension fund established in 1937 and chartered under the Los Angeles City Charter and Administrative Code to administer retirement, health, and survivor benefits for civilian employees of the City of Los Angeles, who represent approximately three-fifths of the City's workforce. As of September 30, 2025, the system managed a pension fund of $26.9 billion in accumulated contributions and investment returns on behalf of active members, retirees, and beneficiaries. LACERS operates as a non-profit government entity under the governance of a Board of Administration and is headquartered at 977 N. Broadway in Los Angeles, California, with a staff of 51–100 employees.

LACERS delivers its core defined-benefit pension through three membership tiers (Tier 1, Tier 1 Enhanced, and Tier 3), each with differentiated contribution rates, retirement formulas, and cost-of-living adjustment protections. Members access services via the MyLACERS online portal (with built-in retirement allowance estimators), in-person counseling at headquarters, scheduled appointments, phone support (800-779-8328), and Tier-specific educational seminars and webinars. Adjacent product lines include the Family Death Benefit Plan (voluntary survivor coverage), the LACERS Well wellness program (fitness classes, webinars, and a private Facebook group of 800+ retirees), and the Tier 1 Retirement Benefits Video Series. Health benefits (medical, dental, vision) are administered through partnerships with Anthem Blue Cross, Delta Dental, Kaiser Permanente, SCAN Health Plan, and UnitedHealthcare.

The system's economic model is contribution-driven rather than revenue-generating in a commercial sense: bi-weekly contributions are collected from City employees and the City as employer, and the corpus is invested to generate returns that fund lifetime monthly pension payments. Member contribution rates are set statutorily by the Los Angeles City Administrative Code rather than through market-based pricing. A 1% Tier 1 ERIP Recovery surcharge ended June 30, 2026. As a municipal entity, LACERS is accountable to the City of Los Angeles and its members, not private shareholders, and pursues no fundraising, M&A, or expansion beyond its statutory mandate.

Name

Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System

Legal name

Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System

Website

https://lacers.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1937

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

LACERS is a City of Los Angeles public pension fund, established in 1937, that administers defined-benefit retirement, health, and survivor benefits for civilian City employees and retirees, managing a $26.9 billion corpus as of September 30, 2025.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Pension Contributions: LACERS collects bi-weekly contributions from City of Los Angeles employees and the City as an employer to fund defined benefit pension payments. Tier 1 Members paid a 1% ERIP Recovery surcharge which ended June 30, 2026.
2. Investment Returns: The pension fund generates returns through investment of accumulated contributions. The fund size of $26.9 billion as of September 30, 2025 represents accumulated contributions and investment performance.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

LACERS administers defined benefit pension payments, health benefits (medical, dental, vision), survivor benefits, and cost-of-living adjustments for active and retired civilian employees of the City of Los Angeles. Services are delivered through the MyLACERS member portal, in-person counseling, seminars/webinars, and health carrier partnerships, with differentiated benefit tiers (Tier 1, Tier 1 Enhanced, Tier 3) governed by the Los Angeles City Administrative Code.

Product overview

LACERS is a pension and retirement benefits administration system for City of Los Angeles employees. The core offering consists of the MyLACERS member portal, which provides retirement account management, benefit estimation tools, and document access. Supporting modules include health benefits administration through carrier partnerships (Anthem, Kaiser, Delta Dental, SCAN, UnitedHealthcare), the LACERS Well wellness program, the Family Death Benefit Plan, online retirement benefit calculators, video education series, and in-person/virtual retirement seminars. The system operates across multiple membership tiers (Tier 1, Tier 1 Enhanced, and Tier 3) with differentiated contribution rates and benefit structures.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MyLACERS Member Portal
• Simplified Tier 1 Benefits Estimator
• LACERS Well
• Family Death Benefit Plan (FDBP)
• Health Benefits Plans
• Tier 1 Retirement Benefits Video Series
• Retirement Benefits Seminars

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• CalPERS (California Public Employees' Retirement System): CalPERS is the California state-level defined benefit pension system for public employees, structurally analogous to LACERS. Both administer pension and health benefits under California public-pension regulation and serve overlapping workforce categories.
• CalSTRS (California State Teachers' Retirement System): CalSTRS provides defined benefit retirement benefits to California public educators under a similar statutory framework. Comparable in scale, governance, COLA protections, and supplemental benefit offerings to LACERS.
• Florida Retirement System (FRS): FRS administers retirement benefits for Florida public employees through a defined benefit plan alongside a defined contribution option, analogous in scale and member-base dynamics to LACERS though structured differently at the state level.
• New York State Common Retirement Fund: New York State's public employee pension system operates under a defined benefit structure with COLA features, comparable in scope, governance, and benefits administration to LACERS at a state-wide level.
• Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA): LACERA administers pension and health benefits for Los Angeles County employees, mirroring LACERS' role at the city level. Both systems operate as California public defined benefit pension funds with virtually identical product scope, governance style, and member demographics.
• Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS): TMRS provides retirement benefits to employees of Texas municipalities, structurally similar to LACERS in serving local-government employees with defined benefit plans. Comparable in member services, contribution-funded design, and benefit calculation methodology.
• Washington State Department of Retirement Systems (DRS): DRS administers multiple defined benefit plans for Washington public employees, including teachers, public employees, and law enforcement. Comparable in governance, COLA structure, and supplemental benefit offerings to LACERS.
• New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS): NYCERS is a large municipal defined benefit pension system serving New York City employees. Like LACERS, it is a city-charter-based system offering pensions, health benefits, survivor benefits, and member self-service portals.
• San Francisco City and County Employees' Retirement System (SFERS): SFERS administers pension and health benefits for San Francisco municipal employees, with the same municipal-employer, defined-benefit, charter-based governance model as LACERS. Direct California geographic peer in the same city-county pension category.

Broad incumbents

• Empower Retirement: Empower is a large private-sector retirement plan administrator providing defined contribution and recordkeeping services. While operating in the broader retirement-services space that overlaps LACERS' administration stack, it does not serve public DB plans directly.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/%40lacersofficial
• Facebookfacebook.com/groups/511515812340023
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lacers

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System