The Board of Retirement is the governing body with exclusive control and fiduciary responsibility for management of the benefits and investments of the retirement fund for the members and beneficiaries. Statutory duties and responsibilities of Board Trustees originate primarily from the Government Code and the Constitution of the State of California. A trustee's fundamental obligations may be summarized as 1) loyalty to the members and beneficiaries, 2) prudence in protecting and managing SDCERA's assets, and 3) diligence in serving the members' and beneficiaries' interests. A more complete list of duties is shown below.

The Board of Retirement controls the investment of the pension fund. Trustees are responsible for approving all requests for retirement, refunds to separated members, death benefits, re-purchases and re-deposits into the system, plus other miscellaneous requests. In addition, the Board must act on all disability retirement applications, and establish employer and employee contribution rates for the retirement system on the basis of an actuarial survey.

The Retirement Board usually meets the first and third Thursday of each month at the SDCERA office located at 2275 Rio Bonito Way, Suite 200, in San Diego’s Mission Valley area. Additional time commitments include attendance at committee meetings and educational conferences (see Time commitments below). Board members are eligible for reimbursement of mileage to and from the meetings. Additionally, Board members are required to file a Disclosure of Conflict of Interest Statement annually with the Fair Political Practices Commission.

To be a fully participating and contributing Trustee, a member will enhance their success with the:

• Ability to read, understand and apply complex legal writings and concepts
• Advanced communication skills to express position, opinions and ideas with conviction and clarity
• Advanced analytical skills to understand investment policies, theory and practice
• Aptitude and interest in finance, accounting, labor relations, employee benefits, investments, legal, disability and personnel administration

Sole and exclusive fiduciary responsibility over the assets of the system

• Duty to act in good faith and in the best interest of members, beneficiaries and the fund as a whole
• Act with skill, care and diligence. Trustees are held to a high standard and must follow the prudent person rule which requires the trustee to act with the skill and care that a prudent person acting in a like capacity, and familiar with these matters, would use in the conduct of an enterprise of like character and with like aims.
• Seek or gather specialized advice or knowledge through education and training