CIC-TOC Pension Plan

A Board of Trustees governs the plan, with equal representation from the Carpenters Industrial Council — an affiliate of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters — and the Timber Operators Council, representing contributing employers. The Board typically delegates day-to-day portfolio management to external investment consultants and fund managers, a common structure among Taft-Hartley multi-employer plans. All investment policy, asset allocation, and manager selection ultimately require trustee approval.

The plan is funded through employer contributions negotiated under collective bargaining agreements between the Carpenters Industrial Council and participating timber operators. Weyerhaeuser has been a major contributing employer, though litigation over withdrawal liability has shaped the plan's relationship with departing employers. Contribution rates are set by contract and adjusted periodically based on actuarial valuations.

Like many multi-employer pension funds, the CIC-TOC plan allocates to alternatives including real estate, private credit, and potentially infrastructure — asset classes that offer liability-matching duration and yield. Specific commitments are not publicly disclosed. The plan's alternatives exposure is typically accessed through institutional fund vehicles rather than direct co-investments, consistent with the governance constraints of a jointly trusteed board.

Under ERISA, when an employer stops contributing to a multi-employer pension plan, it may owe a withdrawal liability representing its share of unfunded vested benefits. The CIC-TOC plan has been involved in federal litigation with Weyerhaeuser and other employers over these obligations. These cases have tested how withdrawal liability is calculated when employers sell facilities or restructure operations, with outcomes that affect the plan's funding ratio.

No philanthropic foundations or operating businesses are publicly associated with the plan. As a Taft-Hartley pension fund, its structure is purely fiduciary — assets are held in trust exclusively for participant benefits. The plan does not sponsor venture arms, charitable foundations, or club-investment vehicles.

The plan's participant base is concentrated in a cyclical commodity industry, which means contribution income and liability assumptions can fluctuate with timber markets. In response, the Board typically diversifies the investment portfolio well beyond the forest-products sector to avoid compounding employer risk with asset risk. This creates an investment program that is geographically concentrated in the Pacific Northwest on the liability side but deliberately diversified by sector on the asset side.

The Board of Trustees is split evenly between union-appointed and employer-appointed trustees, a hallmark of Taft-Hartley multi-employer plans. This parity structure means no investment policy, actuarial change, or benefit adjustment can pass without consensus from both sides. Deadlock risk is managed through the shared interest both parties have in plan solvency, though it can slow decision-making relative to single-sponsor plans.