Defined Benefit Pension Plan of the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 400 and Mechanical Contractors

Defined Benefit Pension Plan of the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 400 and Mechanical Contractors

The Defined Benefit Pension Plan of the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 400 and Mechanical Contractors was established in 1966 to provide retirement, disability and death benefits to members of UA Local 400. The local represents more than 2,500 plumbers, pipefitters and HVACR service technicians across 18 counties in Northeast Wisconsin. The plan sits inside a dense industrial ecosystem — a network of 100-plus signatory contractors, a union-run training facility in Kaukauna, and long-standing project partnerships with employers such as J.F. Ahern Co., Georgia Pacific and Microsoft. The pension plan pursues a multi-asset-class strategy across buyout, venture capital, natural resources and infrastructure, deploying through a hybrid model that combines fund-of-funds commitments with direct co-investments. Stage coverage is broad, spanning early-stage seed and start-up through expansion and late-stage. Known exposures reach into real assets — the plan holds industrial property in Kaukauna, including the UA Local 400 Training Facility — and a fund-of-funds book that diversifies the plan’s alternatives allocation. Geographic focus remains predominantly North American, with investment ties following the contractors who employ Local 400 labor on major industrial projects throughout the Midwest. The plan’s total assets are estimated at $212 million (Altss estimate), a scale typical for a Taft-Hartley defined-benefit plan covering a regional trade local. The plan is not known to operate adjacent philanthropic foundations separate from the union’s community work, but the local itself maintains a board seat with Rebuilding Together Green Bay and contributes volunteer labor for home-repair programs. The union’s training affiliates — the UA Local 400 Training Facility and state-approved apprenticeship programs in pipe fabrication, plumbing, steamfitting and HVAC-R service — supply the skilled workforce that underpins the plan’s contribution base. Structurally, the plan is a classic Taft-Hartley multi-employer pension vehicle, jointly governed by union and contractor trustees. Unlike single-family offices or corporate pensions, its investment posture is shaped by collectively bargained contribution rates and the demographic profile of a skilled-trade workforce in the upper Midwest. Contractor relationships with names such as Energy Solutions Nuclear Services — the signatory firm managing the Kewaunee Nuclear Plant decommissioning — illustrate how the plan’s asset pool remains tied to the physical economy of industrial Wisconsin, not abstract allocation models.