Central Pension Fund of the International Union of Operating Engineers and Participating Employers

The Board of Trustees — composed of four union and four employer representatives — holds fiduciary authority over the fund. James T. Callahan, IUOE General President, chairs the board. Day-to-day investment execution is led by Director of Investments Marc Becker and CEO Joseph J. Shelton (per Altss research). This multi-layered governance structure places ultimate allocation and manager-selection decisions with the trustees, not a standalone investment committee.

The fund characterizes itself as one of the largest and most well-funded multiemployer defined benefit plans in the United States (per its website). While CPF does not publish a continuous funded-ratio series, its disclosed demographic profile — 87,000 retirees drawing benefits against 136,000 active and vested workers — reflects a positive ratio relative to many Taft-Hartley peers.

CPF accesses private markets through a combination of direct real estate ownership, commingled funds, and co-investment vehicles. The research record shows commitments to Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, Carlyle Infrastructure Partners, and Almanac Realty Securities Fund V, alongside direct holding of the Dublin Corporate Center. The fund’s active participation in the Council of Institutional Investors and the AFL-CIO investment network offers additional sourcing channels.

It does both. CPF directly owns commercial property such as the Dublin Corporate Center and holds partnership and joint venture interests. At the same time, it commits capital to third-party-managed funds like Real Estate Partners VI and co-investment vehicles. This hybrid model lets the fund capture direct asset upside while relying on external GPs for specialized infrastructure and private equity mandates.

The IUOE created CPF in 1960, and the union’s General President chairs the Board of Trustees. Four of the eight trustees are union officials; the other four represent contributing employers. The plan covers members of IUOE locals and pays benefits based on employer contributions reported by more than 6,200 participating companies, tying the fund’s fortunes directly to the unionized operating-engineer workforce.

CPF does not publish an exclusion list. However, as a multiemployer plan tied to organized labor, its investments typically appear in real estate, infrastructure, private equity, venture capital, private credit, and natural resources. The fund’s AFL-CIO affiliation and participation in the Council of Institutional Investors suggest a strong emphasis on worker-friendly governance, but no formal negative screens have been disclosed.

The IUOE Scholarship Fund and the IUOE Local 399 Charity Fund are the primary philanthropic structures linked to CPF’s sponsoring union (per Altss research). They operate separately from the pension trust, which allows CPF to keep its fiduciary obligations and charitable activities legally distinct while still supporting the broader union community.