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Electrician's Retirement Fund
The Electrician's Retirement Fund launched in 2007 as a multiemployer defined benefit plan for union electricians represented by United Electrical Workers...
Electrician's Retirement Fund
The Electrician's Retirement Fund launched in 2007 as a multiemployer defined benefit plan for union electricians represented by United Electrical Workers of America, Local 363. The Building Industry Electrical Contractors Association sponsors the plan, and trustees Frank Rappo and Eric Olynik — former electrical contracting business owners themselves — represent the management side. Dickinson Group, LLC administers day-to-day operations from Holtsville, New York. Unlike most building-trades plans that anchor to public equities and core fixed income, this fund allocates meaningfully to private markets. Its approved investment categories span buyout, distressed debt, fund of funds, and mezzanine strategies, alongside more conventional holdings in U.S. government securities, corporate debt instruments, common and collective trusts, and partnership or joint venture interests. The plan co-invests alongside an affiliated entity, the Building Trades Annuity Benefit Fund, which shares the same trustees and administrator. The fund's filing footprint suggests a compact operation — publicly available records indicate approximately $203 million in plan assets with no dedicated investment staff disclosed beyond the trustee-administrator relationship. The board's small-committee structure and reliance on external administrators position it among the smaller, nimbler multiemployer plans in the New York metropolitan area. The plan maintains an industry affiliation with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, grounding its governance in the same labor-relations framework that produced its participant base. What distinguishes the plan structurally is its hybrid governance: management trustees drawn from the contractor association sit alongside union representatives, creating a built-in co-investment posture even at the policy level. Its strategy portfolio reads more like an opportunistic credit and private equity allocation than a model portfolio for a sub-$250 million union plan. That departure from conventional pension allocation orthodoxy is the fund's defining architectural feature.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
2007
AUM
Approx. $203M (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Holtsville
Corporate office
Holtsville, NY, United States
Principals
Frank Rappo
Trustee, Plan Sponsor
Eric Olynik
Trustee, Plan Administrator
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Electrician's Retirement Fund?
Trustees Frank Rappo and Eric Olynik oversee plan governance, including investment policy. Rappo serves as plan sponsor trustee; Olynik acts as plan administrator trustee. Day-to-day administration is handled by Dickinson Group, LLC. Investment decisions are presumably executed through the plan's authorized asset categories — buyout, distressed debt, mezzanine, and fund of funds — though specific delegation to an OCIO or advisor is not publicly detailed.
How does the Fund source its alternative investments?
Public information does not detail a dedicated sourcing team or specific GP relationships. The plan's use of fund-of-funds and partnership interests suggests it accesses private markets primarily through intermediaries rather than direct origination. Its co-investment vehicle, the Building Trades Annuity Benefit Fund, may share access to certain alternative managers or pooled vehicles.
Is Electrician's Retirement Fund a single-family office or a pension plan?
It is a multiemployer defined benefit pension plan, sponsored by the Building Industry Electrical Contractors Association for members of IBEW Local 363. It is not a family office. Trustees are drawn from both the contractor association and the union, making it a classic Taft-Hartley plan structure.
Does the Fund write direct equity checks, or is it a fund-of-funds allocator?
The plan's investment policy allows for buyout, mezzanine, and distressed debt, alongside fund-of-funds and partnership interests. This mix implies a combination of direct fund commitments and pooled vehicles, though limited disclosure makes the balance unclear. The heavy use of fund-of-funds suggests a preference for diversified access over concentrated direct deal-making.
Which sectors does the Electrician's Retirement Fund explicitly invest in?
The plan does not publish a sector-specific investment policy. Its asset-class authorizations — buyout, distressed debt, mezzanine, and infrastructure-related real assets — indicate broad private-market exposure. Its union lineage aligns loosely with building and electrical trades, but no explicit industry concentration is mandated.
What is the relationship between the Electrician's Retirement Fund and the Building Trades Annuity Benefit Fund?
The Building Trades Annuity Benefit Fund is an affiliated co-investor managed by the same trustees and administrator, Dickinson Group, LLC. The two funds likely share investment infrastructure, governance, and potentially underlying manager relationships. This dual-fund structure effectively operates like two parallel pools under one governance umbrella.
Does the Fund maintain any philanthropic or non-pension structures?
No philanthropic foundation, operating company, or non-pension vehicle is publicly tied to the Electrician's Retirement Fund. Its sole mandate is providing retirement, disability, and death benefits to eligible participants of IBEW Local 363 under the plan document.
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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