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Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local #26
IBEW Local 26 represents approximately 8,000 active members and retirees across the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, covering Washington, D.C., Maryland,...
Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local #26
IBEW Local 26 represents approximately 8,000 active members and retirees across the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, covering Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The local's pension fund is a jointly trusteed Taft-Hartley defined-benefit plan, with trustees appointed by both the union and participating NECA contractors. The fund's investment program supports retirement benefits for journeyman wiremen, inside wiremen, and technicians who work on major federal, commercial, and data-center construction projects throughout the capital region. Its benefit structure is collectively bargained through project labor agreements with NECA signatory contractors. Investment strategy reflects a multi-asset defined-benefit allocation typical of Taft-Hartley construction-trade pension plans. Public filings indicate exposure spans real estate equity, private infrastructure, private credit, and an active secondaries program. The fund holds direct real estate assets including its 4371 Parliament Place administrative headquarters in Lanham, Maryland, training facilities in Manassas and Roanoke, Virginia, and satellite locations in Prince Frederick and Charlottesville. Its private-markets program emphasizes secondary transactions—a posture consistent with Taft-Hartley plans seeking to manage vintage-year diversification and J-curve mitigation. The fund also maintains a credit union serving members and their families. Total plan assets are not publicly disclosed as a single figure, though the fund files annual Form 5500 reports with the Department of Labor as required under ERISA. The fund operates alongside affiliated trusts including the Health Care Cost Containment Corporation of the Mid-Atlantic Region and the IBEW Local 26 Scholarship Fund, each governed by separate joint boards of trustees. Washington, D.C. metro area construction activity—fueled by federal infrastructure spending, data-center buildout, and institutional projects—provides the underlying contribution base that funds the pension plan. The fund's structural posture is defined by its joint trusteeship architecture. Unlike corporate pension plans with single-fiduciary governance, IBEW Local 26's pension requires consensus between labor and management trustees on all investment decisions. This governance model, combined with the fund's emphasis on secondaries and direct real estate, shapes an investment program that prioritizes income generation, capital preservation, and alignment with the construction-sector cycle to which its contributing employers are inherently exposed.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1961
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Lanham
Corporate office
Lanham, MD, United States
Additional offices
Manassas, VA, United States · Roanoke, VA, United States
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who governs investment decisions at the IBEW Local 26 pension fund?
The fund is governed by a joint board of trustees with equal representation from IBEW Local 26 and the National Electrical Contractors Association's Washington, D.C. chapter. All material investment decisions require consensus between labor and management trustees, a governance structure standard for Taft-Hartley plans and required under the Labor Management Relations Act. Day-to-day investment management and manager selection are typically delegated to an investment consultant, though the specific advisor is not publicly named.
What is the fund's exposure to private markets?
The fund's private-markets program emphasizes secondary transactions, which allow it to acquire seasoned LP interests in private equity, infrastructure, and real assets funds. This secondaries focus is consistent with Taft-Hartley plans seeking to manage J-curve effects and vintage-year concentration risk. The fund also holds direct interests in real estate, including its training facilities and administrative headquarters in Lanham, Maryland, which function as both operating assets and balance-sheet investments.
How is the pension funded?
Contributions come from signatory NECA contractors under collective bargaining agreements, typically calculated as an hourly contribution rate per covered employee. The Washington, D.C. metro region's heavy concentration of federal, data-center, and institutional construction projects provides the underlying economic base supporting these contributions. Contribution rates are negotiated through project labor agreements and multi-year collective bargaining cycles between the local and NECA.
Is the fund open to co-investment or direct deal participation?
Taft-Hartley plans typically access private markets through commingled fund commitments rather than direct co-investments or club deals, and IBEW Local 26's posture aligns with this norm. The fund's real estate holdings are partially owner-occupied operating assets rather than purely investment properties. No public evidence suggests the fund actively solicits or participates in direct co-investment transactions alongside GPs or other institutional limited partners.
What distinguishes IBEW Local 26's pension from other Taft-Hartley building-trades plans?
Its geographic concentration in the Washington, D.C. metro area exposes the plan to a construction economy driven more by federal procurement, intelligence-community buildout, and data-center construction than by the commercial real estate cycles affecting other large union pension funds. The fund's extensive direct real estate footprint—including training centers that double as income-producing assets—and its strong secondaries tilt differentiate it from plans that run heavier public-equity allocations.
What other structures relate to the pension fund?
The pension operates alongside the Health Care Cost Containment Corporation of the Mid-Atlantic Region, which administers health and welfare benefits for IBEW Local 26 members, and the IBEW Local 26 Scholarship Fund, which provides educational grants. Each entity has a separate board of trustees and independent fiduciary obligations. The local also operates a federal credit union serving members and their families from its Lanham headquarters building.
Does the fund disclose its total asset size publicly?
As an ERISA-governed Taft-Hartley plan, the fund files Form 5500 annually with the Department of Labor, which discloses aggregate plan assets, contributions, and benefit payments. While these filings are publicly accessible through the DOL's EFAST system, the fund does not independently publish a consolidated AUM figure on its public-facing website or through press releases. The most recently filed Form 5500 provides the authoritative source for total plan assets.
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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