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International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Pension Plan
IAM National Pension Plan co-chaired by Steve Galloway and Justin Welner holds industrial union assets, a D.C.
International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Pension Plan
The IAM National Pension Plan is the defined-benefit vehicle serving the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, a union representing roughly 600,000 active and retired members across the aerospace, airlines, and manufacturing sectors. The fund is jointly governed by union trustees, led by Union Co-Chairman Steve Galloway, and employer trustees, led by Employer Co-Chairman Justin Welner, who concurrently serves as Senior Vice President at Spirit AeroSystems. The plan operates alongside a sister defined-contribution vehicle, the IAM National 401(k) Fund, with shared administrative resources and overlapping leadership. The plan's investment posture combines fixed-income stability with direct stakes in alternative assets. The portfolio includes a direct ownership position in 99 M Street SE, a commercial office building in Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Riverfront submarket — a property the fund occupies in part for its own administrative offices. Since 2022, the pension plan has also participated in a music royalty acquisition vehicle through Litmus Music, a Carlyle-backed rights aggregator. These direct and co-investment positions sit inside a broader framework of traditional institutional allocations spanning public equities, private credit, and infrastructure, consistent with multi-employer Taft-Hartley standards. Geographic exposure is concentrated in U.S. markets with selective reach into Western Europe. The board-level administration disclosed a professional footprint that includes active memberships in the National Institute on Retirement Security at the Visionary Circle tier and the Council of Institutional Investors. The plan's philanthropic channel runs through Guide Dogs of America, a charity historically linked to the IAM union membership. In a notable structural evolution indicative of the fund's modernization effort, the plan participated in the 2022-2023 formation of the Litmus Music royalty acquisition vehicle alongside Carlyle Group (per Bloomberg, 2022). Unlike most Taft-Hartley plans that confine alternative exposure to fund-of-funds commitments, the IAM National Pension Plan has carved a direct niche in music royalties — an intellectual property asset class typically reserved for endowments, sovereign funds, and single-family offices. This co-investment architecture moves the plan closer to the operational posture of a hybrid asset owner, blending fiduciary governance with opportunistic principal investing through the pension balance sheet.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Upper Marlboro
Corporate office
Upper Marlboro, MD, United States
Additional offices
99 M St SE, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20003
Principals
Steve Galloway
Union Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Justin Welner
Employer Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees; Senior VP at Spirit AeroSystems
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How does the plan's governance structure work between union and employer trustees?
The Board of Trustees has an equal number of union and employer representatives. The Union Co-Chairman, Steve Galloway, represents the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers membership, while the Employer Co-Chairman, Justin Welner, represents participating aerospace and manufacturing companies, including his own employer, Spirit AeroSystems. This co-equal structure is standard for Taft-Hartley multi-employer plans, requiring joint agreement on investment policy, actuarial assumptions, and benefit changes.
What is the relationship between the IAM National Pension Plan and the IAM National 401(k) Fund?
The two plans are sister vehicles operating under similar joint union-employer governance. The Pension Plan provides defined-benefit retirement income to eligible members, while the 401(k) Fund offers a defined-contribution option. They share administrative resources and board-level leadership, but maintain legally distinct trust structures and investment mandates.
Why does the plan hold music royalty assets, and how did it enter that position?
The plan acquired a stake in the music rights platform Litmus Music, a Carlyle-backed vehicle that aggregates catalogues. This places the fund in a position to earn recurring royalty streams uncorrelated to industrial-sector equities. The move reflects a board-level decision to add intellectual property as a diversifier outside the traditional real estate, credit, and public equity allocation model common among multi-employer plans.
Does the fund invest directly or through intermediaries?
The IAM National Pension Plan conducts a mix of direct investment and co-investment. Its ownership of 99 M Street SE in Washington, D.C., is a direct real estate holding. The Litmus Music position is a co-investment through a Carlyle-affiliated vehicle. These direct and co-investment structures sit alongside traditional fund commitments managed by external institutional asset managers.
How does the plan's investment stance compare to other Taft-Hartley pension funds?
Most Taft-Hartley plans overweight fixed income and avoid direct principal investments in niche assets. The IAM National Pension Plan differentiates itself with a dedicated Washington, D.C., office property held on the balance sheet and a direct music royalty co-investment, an approach that suggests an investment committee comfortable operating closer to an endowment-model posture than a conventional multi-employer plan.
Where is the fund's wealth concentrated geographically?
The underlying membership base is concentrated in U.S. manufacturing and airline hubs, but the investment portfolio extends beyond the membership footprint. The fund's real asset exposure includes a commercial office building in Washington, D.C., and its music royalty exposure spans global catalogues owned and administered through U.S.-based rights aggregators.
What is Guide Dogs of America and how does the plan support it?
Guide Dogs of America is a nonprofit that trains service dogs for people who are blind or have low vision, historically supported by IAM union members and leadership. The pension plan's trustees have maintained this philanthropic channel as part of the organization's broader community engagement, though the foundation operates independently of the plan's investment trust.
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