Employees' Retirement System is a public pension fund with $9.6 billion in assets under management. The fund engages in the following alternative investment strategies: assets of interest, buyouts/corporate finance, distressed debt/turnarounds, real estate, timber/farmland, and venture capital. The ERS collects retirement contributions from members, provides pre-retirement counseling services, conducts disability hearings and appeals, reviews claims for retirement, disability, and death benefits and certifies these benefits for payments.