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SMWIA Staff Retiree Health Fund
The SMWIA Staff Retiree Health Fund was created in 1997 by the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association—now the International Association of Sheet Metal,...
SMWIA Staff Retiree Health Fund
The SMWIA Staff Retiree Health Fund was created in 1997 by the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association—now the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, or SMART—to cover post-employment medical, dental, and related benefits for the union's own staff. It is not a multi-employer plan covering rank-and-file members on job sites, but a narrow non-contributory vehicle for administrative and professional employees. Joseph Powell, SMART's General Secretary-Treasurer, is the named fiduciary on federal filings. The fund's investment posture is defensive by design. It holds direct commercial real estate through the United Unions Building at 1750 New York Avenue NW in Washington, DC, which also houses SMART's national headquarters. Real-asset allocations extend to the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, a $16B labor-backed vehicle that finances multi-family construction with union labor. The plan also carries a natural-resources sleeve, though granular holdings are not publicly itemized. Liquidity is kept tight enough to service retiree health claims without disruption, typical of a sub-$50M health-and-welfare trust. SMWIA Staff Retiree Health Fund lists no external investment staff beyond the union officer who signs its Form 5500. Its operations are intertwined with SMART's governance, meaning asset-management decisions appear to run through the parent union's executive board rather than through a dedicated CIO. This is common among small health-and-welfare plans: minimal overhead, no separate office footprint, and investing filtered through organized-labor networks rather than open-market RFP processes. The structural differentiator is the fund's tie to union-built real assets. Unlike a generic pension that allocates to commingled real-estate funds, this plan co-owns the building in which its own sponsor operates, creating a circular economic relationship—rent paid by the union partially flows back to the retirement trust. Succession risk is bundled with SMART's broader governance continuity.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1997
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Washington
Corporate office
1750 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC 20006, United States
Principals
Joseph Powell
General Secretary-Treasurer, SMART Union
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the SMWIA Staff Retiree Health Fund?
Joseph Powell, General Secretary-Treasurer of the SMART Union, is the named fiduciary on the fund's regulatory filings. The fund does not list a separate chief investment officer or external investment committee, indicating that asset-management oversight rests with SMART's senior leadership.
Is this a multi-employer plan covering SMART's sheet-metal workers?
No. This is a single-employer staff plan that covers only the union's own administrative and professional employees, not the broader membership working under collective bargaining agreements. Multi-employer health-and-welfare plans for rank-and-file members are separate legal entities.
What does the fund actually invest in?
Publicly traceable assets include direct ownership in the United Unions Building at 1750 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC, and a commitment to the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, a large labor-backed real-estate vehicle. The fund also lists a natural-resources allocation, though individual holdings are not disclosed in filings.
How is the fund related to the SMART Union?
The fund was established by the union in 1997 as a defined-benefit health plan for its staff. SMART's General Secretary-Treasurer serves as fiduciary, the fund's only known physical asset is the union's own headquarters, and governance runs through the parent organization with no independent investment office.
Does the SMWIA Staff Retiree Health Fund take external co-investors?
No. As a closed defined-benefit vehicle for a specific employee group, the fund does not accept outside capital, co-investors, or public-market investors. Its sole sources of inflow are employer contributions from the SMART Union.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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