N.C. Supplemental Retirement Plans Hit Record $20 Billion In Assets

Approves Fee Holiday

RALEIGH – For the first time since its creation in 1985 the North Carolina Supplemental Retirement Plans’ (SRP) 401(k) Plan and NC 457 Plan topped $20 billion in investment assets, State Treasurer Brad Briner announced Thursday. 

The major milestone was reported at the Supplemental Retirement Board of Trustees’ quarterly meeting. The market value of investments increased from $17.7 billion at the end of 2024 to $20 billion at the close of 2025. The assets have more than doubled in the past seven years. Currently there are 325,714 participants in 401(k) and 457 plans. 

“Today marks an important day in Supplemental Retirement Plans history.  It’s obviously a testament to the hardworking men and women of North Carolina and their commitment to being retirement ready in their savings, but it’s also a compliment to the team,” Treasurer Briner said, while citing the leadership of SRP Director Jeff Hancock.  

“It’s not enough to get to $20 billion,” Treasurer Briner said. “We have aspirations to go even further, and the way we do that is by making it a better and better plan.” 

Participants in the plans received additional good news. The board voted in favor of an administrative fee waiver, which will reduce recordkeeping costs paid by participants in the plans by approximately $1.7 million over the next year. The vote was an extension of the fee holiday in place last year. 

Hancock attributed the ability to extend the fee holiday to having compiled a significant amount of fee reserves. On top of the fee holiday, the board voted to reduce reserves by another $2.25 million, which represents about a quarter’s worth of recordkeeping fees.  

The accumulation of reserve funds comes from strong Board oversight and staff’s successful fee negotiations with partners and vendors. The fee holiday equates to 10 cents per $1,000 held in a participant account and begins on March 1. 

Among other items on the agenda, the board voted unanimously to streamline the GoalMaker asset allocation tool participants use to set their 401(k) and 457 retirement plans. The change was recommended by the North Carolina Investment Authority (NCIA), which manages the plans’ investments, and representatives of the Callan investment consulting firm.  

The revision includes moving to a unified glidepath, or strategy, designed to balance growth and protection, improving the chances of meeting retirement income needs. 

The board received several presentations from representatives of: 

• UHY, a global network of independent accounting and consultancy firms, detailing an upcoming financial performance audit. 
• CEM Benchmarking Inc., a data and insight firm, outlining components such as cost-effectiveness and performance of the plans and comparison to peer retirement funds. 
• Empower, SRP’s third-party administrator, providing data about the plans. That included information that 11 new employers adopted the NC 401(k) plan and 24 employers adopted the 457 plan in 2025, and there were 27,515 new participant enrollments last year. 
• Bank of New York Mellon, an investment management consultant, briefing board members on how artificial intelligence is being used. 

The NC 401(k) and NC 457 Plans are exclusively available to public servants in the state of North Carolina and are among the largest and lowest-cost public plans in the country. The Plans are administered by the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer (DST) and the Board. They are offered by more than 1,100 public employers, including state agencies, local governments, school districts and community colleges. Over 550 of these employers offer a contribution to the Plans to help promote retirement readiness.