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 serve members of the Kaukauna-based union local, which represents pipefitters and plumbers across Northeast Wisconsin. It provides retirement, disability, and death benefits, with contributions funded through collective bargaining agreements with mechanical contractors across the region. The plan is a classic Taft-Hartley multi-employer fund, jointly governed by labor and management trustees — a structure that insulates investment decisions in a formal fiduciary process distinct from both the union's operations and contractor interests. The portfolio leans into private markets more heavily than many similarly sized public plans, reflecting a liability-aware posture rather than a simple beta-chase. Asset-class commitments observed through public records include private credit, infrastructure, natural resources, and real estate, alongside limited venture capital and buyout sleeves. The fund participates in hybrid fund-of-funds structures — a common bridge for mid-sized Taft-Hartley plans to access diversified private exposures without building a large internal team. Direct co-investments and club deals are not publicly documented, though the plan's board includes contractor principals whose construction and development activities occasionally intersect with infrastructure and real-estate investments, creating a sourcing adjacency rare in funds of this scale. The fund does not publicly disclose its total assets, but Altss estimates approximately $212 million based on regulatory filing trends and peer-group comparisons among Wisconsin building-trades plans. The plan operates from a single office in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, near the Local 400 union hall and its affiliated training facility. The sponsoring union has a demonstrated track record of partnering with large industrial employers — members provided labor for the decommissioning of the Kewaunee Nuclear Plant through Energy Solutions Nuclear Services and for major fabrication projects tied to Microsoft and Georgia Pacific — relationships that inform the plan's sector fluency in industrial construction, energy infrastructure, and real assets. The structural differentiator is concentric governance. Unlike public pension funds that layer investment staff bureaucratic hierarchies, this plan's board sits at the intersection of contractor business owners, union leaders, and external investment consultants. The result is a decision-making arc where capital allocation, project-labor agreements, and local economic development can overlap — a dynamic that gives the fund an unusual, informal pipeline of deal visibility across Wisconsin's industrial and energy-infrastructure landscape.