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Employers & Operating Engineers Local 520 Pension Fund
The Employers & Operating Engineers Local 520 Pension Fund is a multiemployer Taft-Hartley defined-benefit plan established to provide retirement security for...
Employers & Operating Engineers Local 520 Pension Fund
The Employers & Operating Engineers Local 520 Pension Fund is a multiemployer Taft-Hartley defined-benefit plan established to provide retirement security for members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 520. The fund's contributing employers include construction firms bound by collective bargaining agreements across 16 counties in Southern Illinois, with Precision Pipeline LLC and its parent MasTec, Inc. among the notable signatories. The plan's governance sits with a joint board of union and employer trustees. The fund's investment strategy reflects its multiemployer pension design — liability-aware and heavily weighted toward fixed income, with satellite allocations to growth assets. Known holdings include a US real estate investment fund targeting mixed-use properties, alongside passive equity exposure through vehicles such as the Northern Trust Collective Russell 1000 Growth Index Fund and the Northern Trust Collective Emerging Markets ex China Investable Index Fund. The geographic footprint of the real assets is concentrated domestically, while the index mandates introduce a global, ex-China overlay. The team operates from Granite City, Illinois, with Plan Administrator Julie Visintine handling day-to-day plan operations alongside the trustee board. The fund's employer base is coordinated through the Southern Illinois Builders Association (SIBA), whose CEO Donna Richter sits on related boards. Total assets are not publicly disclosed, but the fund falls within the sub-$500 million bracket typical for a regional multiemployer plan of this member count. While the fund has not announced any recent mandate changes, multiemployer plans of this profile face ongoing pressure from PBGC funding rules and the demographic maturity of their participant base. The fund's structural differentiator is not alpha-seeking but covenant-survivability. As a multiemployer plan, withdrawal liability provisions govern the obligations of employers that leave the plan, creating a unique interplay between asset performance and the credit risk of contributing contractors. This architecture binds the fund's capital more closely to the health of regional construction unions than to any abstract market benchmark.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1963
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Granite City
Corporate office
Granite City, IL, United States
Principals
Mark Johnson
Business Manager, IUOE Local 520; Trustee
Chad Goldschmidt
President, IUOE Local 520; Trustee
Julie Visintine
Plan Administrator
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who holds fiduciary authority over investment decisions for Local 520's pension?
A joint board of trustees — representing both the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 520 and the contributing employers — oversees investment policy. Mark Johnson, the union's Business Manager, and Chad Goldschmidt, its President, are the named union trustees. They typically delegate day-to-day portfolio management to external managers rather than making direct security selections.
Is this fund open to new employer contributors outside its core collective bargaining agreements?
No. Participation is limited to employers who sign collective bargaining agreements with IUOE Local 520. Known contributors include Precision Pipeline LLC and other contractors operating within the union's 16-county geographic jurisdiction in Southern Illinois. The fund does not operate as an open multiemployer vehicle available to any outside entity.
What is the fund's approach to alternative assets like private equity or venture capital?
The fund maintains a conservative posture consistent with its multiemployer pension structure. Based on its known holdings, the strategy favors passive equity index mandates and direct US real estate rather than illiquid private equity or venture capital. This reflects both ERISA liquidity requirements and the plan's focus on liability-driven investing for a maturing participant base.
How does withdrawal liability work for employers participating in the Local 520 plan?
As a multiemployer defined-benefit plan governed by ERISA, any contributing employer that ceases to participate is subject to withdrawal liability — a statutory obligation to pay its proportionate share of the plan's unfunded vested benefits. This mechanism protects remaining employers and beneficiaries but also ties the fund's solvency risk to the financial health of its construction-industry contributors.
Does the fund maintain any separate philanthropic or training-related vehicles?
The pension fund is legally separate from the union's training and apprenticeship programs, which are typically funded through jointly administered trust funds distinct from the retirement plan. The Local 520's operator training facilities are not assets of the pension fund and do not impact its investment portfolio or liability structure.
What is the fund's relationship with MasTec and Precision Pipeline?
Precision Pipeline LLC, an Illinois-based pipeline construction contractor, is a signatory employer making contributions to the plan under its collective bargaining agreement with Local 520. MasTec, Inc., the publicly traded infrastructure construction company, is Precision Pipeline's parent. Neither entity serves as a plan trustee, though their contribution obligations are a material part of the fund's inflow base.
What is the plan's posture on co-investments alongside other pension funds?
The fund's known investment structure — utilizing commingled Northern Trust index funds and a US real estate fund — suggests a preference for pooled vehicles rather than separate account co-investments. There is no public record of the fund participating in direct co-investment clubs with other Taft-Hartley plans or institutional allocators.
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