# Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local #96

Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local #96 is a Pension Fund based in Worcester, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Worcester, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** 242 Mill Street, Worcester, MA 01602, United States
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** ibew96.org

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

IBEW Local 96 operates as a defined-benefit pension fund for union electricians in central Massachusetts, co-sponsored by the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) Central Massachusetts Chapter. Under Business Manager James A. Arthur and President David C. Martinelli, the plan runs a concentrated buyout strategy — deploying capital directly rather than through layers of intermediaries. The fund's real estate portfolio includes its 242 Mill Street union hall in Worcester, a commercial asset it self-manages alongside other operational properties in the region. The pension allocates across buyout structures and direct real estate, with a footprint concentrated in the Worcester-to-Boston corridor. While the plan does not publicly disclose individual portfolio companies, its Taft-Hartley governance ties it to local electrical contracting and infrastructure projects — the same ecosystem its members build. The fund participates in the broader Massachusetts building-trades investment community through affiliations with the Central Mass AFL-CIO and the Massachusetts Building Trades Council. Its investment posture favors tangible assets and private credit strategies that align with multi-employer pension liability profiles. The fund maintains lean operations run through the union's Worcester headquarters. Its business partnerships with NECA and its JATC electrical training program create an integrated labor-capital structure where pension assets support the same regional construction economy that employs its members. The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce membership places the plan's governance within the city's business leadership. Through Worcester Green Corps and the Worcester Regional Food Hub, the local extends its capital deployment philosophy into community infrastructure — workforce development and food-system real assets that complement rather than compete with its pension mandate. Unlike public plans, IBEW Local 96's Taft-Hartley structure ties investment governance directly to collective bargaining. Contributions are negotiated between labor and management, creating a built-in discipline around return targets: the plan must meet actuarial assumptions without taxpayer backstops. That architecture — a jointly trusteed fund deploying buyout and real-asset strategies within the same region where its members live and work — makes it structurally distinct from the endowment-led limited-partner model that dominates institutional investing in the Northeast.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Infrastructure
- Private Credit

## People

- James A. Arthur — Business Manager
- David C. Martinelli — President

## Questions

### How is IBEW Local 96's pension governed, and who holds investment decision authority?

The plan is jointly trusteed under a Taft-Hartley structure, with trustees appointed by both IBEW Local 96 and the NECA Central Massachusetts Chapter — the signatory contractors. Current Business Manager James A. Arthur and President David C. Martinelli serve as key union-side principals. Investment decisions are made collectively by the board of trustees, often with guidance from an external investment consultant, though the specific consultant relationship has not been publicly disclosed.

### What is the fund's relationship to the building-trades investment ecosystem in Massachusetts?

IBEW Local 96 is affiliated with the Massachusetts Building Trades Council and Central Mass AFL-CIO, putting its trustees in regular contact with peer Taft-Hartley plans across the state. These relationships occasionally produce co-investment opportunities and shared due diligence — a common pattern among multi-employer plans that pool resources for asset-class access while maintaining independent allocation authority.

### How does the fund's real estate strategy reflect its union membership base?

The pension's real estate holdings are concentrated in central Massachusetts, with known assets including the 242 Mill Street union hall in Worcester and other operational properties in the region. This local-real-asset posture aligns with the membership's geographic footprint — electricians who both contribute to the plan and work on projects in the same commercial real estate market the fund invests in.

## Related profiles

- [IBEW Local 701](https://altss.com/profile/electrical-workers-ibew-local-701)
- [IBEW Local 98](https://altss.com/profile/electrical-workers-ibew-local-98)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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