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Florida UBC Health Fund
The Florida UBC Health Fund operates as a multi-employer welfare benefit plan established under the Taft-Hartley Act, serving participants covered by...
Florida UBC Health Fund
The Florida UBC Health Fund operates as a multi-employer welfare benefit plan established under the Taft-Hartley Act, serving participants covered by collective bargaining agreements with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. Chairman James Banks Jr. leads a joint board of trustees — evenly split between union and employer representatives — that governs the fund's operations and investment policy. The fund's wealth originates from hourly employer contributions negotiated into regional collective bargaining agreements, creating a dedicated pool to cover health claims for active and retired carpenters. The fund's investment portfolio, held within the United States, supports a self-insured health plan that covers medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug benefits. Unlike a defined-benefit pension that manages assets for long-term retirement liabilities, a health and welfare fund runs a shorter-duration pool designed to pay current-year and near-term medical claims while maintaining adequate reserves. The asset allocation is typically conservative — heavily weighted toward fixed income and short-duration instruments — to match the rapid claim payout cycle. Plan assets are held in trust and governed by ERISA fiduciary standards, with investment decisions made by the board of trustees. The Florida UBC Health Fund maintains close structural ties with related benefit plans serving the same participant base. The Florida UBC Supplemental Pension Plan previously operated alongside the health fund to provide retirement benefits; that plan merged into the Southern District UBC Defined Contribution Fund in 2024, per public filings. The health fund itself absorbed Carpenters Local 191 Health and Welfare Fund in an earlier consolidation. The fund operates from Goodlettsville, Florida and falls under the umbrella of the Florida Carpenters Regional Council, one of the regional bodies within the international union structure. What distinguishes this entity from a typical institutional allocator is its hybrid nature: it is a healthcare payor first and an asset manager second. The investment function exists solely to ensure claims are paid, not to generate excess returns for stakeholders. Taft-Hartley funds operate under joint trusteeship — a governance model that requires consensus between labor and management appointees — which shapes every decision from manager selection to benefit design. This structure makes the fund's investment posture inherently defensive and highly regulated, with little appetite for illiquid or complex strategies.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1962
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Goodlettsville
Corporate office
Goodlettsville, FL, United States
Principals
James Banks Jr.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Florida UBC Health Fund?
Investment decisions are made by a joint board of trustees, chaired by James Banks Jr. The board includes equal representation from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and participating employers, as required under the Taft-Hartley Act. Trustees typically delegate day-to-day investment management to external advisors and fund managers, but retain fiduciary responsibility for asset allocation and manager selection.
How is a Taft-Hartley health fund different from a pension fund as an institutional investor?
A health and welfare fund manages assets to pay active medical, dental, vision, and prescription claims — not to fund future retirement benefits. This means the portfolio has a much shorter duration and higher liquidity requirement than a pension fund. Investment policy is shaped by claim-cycle cash flow needs, with heavy allocations to fixed income and cash equivalents, rather than the long-horizon equity and alternative investments typical of pension portfolios.
Is the Florida UBC Health Fund a single-employer or multi-employer plan?
It is a multi-employer plan established under Section 302(c)(5) of the Taft-Hartley Act. Multiple employers who sign collective bargaining agreements with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters contribute to the fund at negotiated hourly rates. This structure pools health risk across many small and medium-sized construction employers in Florida, giving individual carpenters portable coverage that moves with them from job to job.
Does the fund invest in private equity, venture capital, or hedge funds?
Health and welfare funds rarely allocate meaningfully to illiquid alternatives because they must pay claims on a short-cycle basis. Public data on this fund's specific allocation is unavailable, but Taft-Hartley health plans typically hold nearly all assets in investment-grade fixed income, money market instruments, and occasionally large-cap public equities. Any alternative exposure would be minimal and likely accessed through a conservative fund-of-funds structure to preserve liquidity.
What happened to the related Florida UBC Supplemental Pension Plan?
In 2024, the Florida UBC Supplemental Pension Plan merged into the Southern District UBC Defined Contribution Fund, per public filings. This consolidation moved the retirement benefit pool out of a standalone Florida vehicle and into a broader regional structure. The health fund remains separately governed and was not part of that merger, though participant bases overlap significantly.
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