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International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) functions as the asset-owner entity connected to the broader International Foundation, a...
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) functions as the asset-owner entity connected to the broader International Foundation, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit educational association serving over 8,000 multiemployer and public-sector benefit plans. Kristina M. Guastaferri holds the dual role of President and Board Chair, with Terence S. Davidson as CEO and Albert Hamwright as CFO. The fund's wealth originates from the pooled contributions and reserves of the foundation's long-standing educational and certification operations, rather than a single family's liquidity event. IFEBP's investment strategy centers squarely on secondaries, with the fund deploying capital across private equity secondaries, credit secondaries, and real asset secondary transactions. This concentrated approach suggests a portfolio built to acquire seasoned LP interests at discounts to net asset value, shortening the J-curve and providing earlier liquidity relative to primary fund commitments. The geographic scope remains primarily North American, consistent with the parent foundation's US-centric membership base. Team scale and deployment figures are not publicly disclosed. The fund operates adjacent to its charitable arm, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Inc., and maintains close ties with the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists, whose members hold the CEBS designation sponsored by IFEBP. The Brookfield headquarters at 18700 W Bluemound Road serves as the operational anchor, with no additional satellite offices currently identified in public filings. Structurally, IFEBP diverges from typical single-family or corporate pension funds. Its capital base is intrinsically tied to a nonprofit educational institution that trains plan trustees and administrators — meaning asset growth is driven by educational revenue and membership fees rather than employer contributions or investment returns alone. This creates a governance environment where the board is populated by benefits professionals who are simultaneously the fund's constituency, a closed-loop structure rare among institutional allocators.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1984
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Brookfield
Corporate office
18700 W Bluemound Rd, Brookfield, WI 53045, United States
Principals
Kristina M. Guastaferri
President & Chair
John E. Slatery
President-Elect
Terry Davidson
CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions for the IFEBP Employees Retirement Plan?
Terry Davidson serves as CEO of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, overseeing all operations including the employee pension. Governance is shared with a board led by Kristina M. Guastaferri, President and Chair, who concurrently runs Mid-America Carpenters Benefit Funds, and John E. Slatery, President-Elect, who directs worker benefits at the American Federation of Teachers. Specific investment committee members are not separately disclosed in public filings.
How is the IFEBP retirement plan structured — is it a single-employer pension?
Yes. The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Employees Retirement Plan is a single-employer defined-benefit plan covering eligible employees of the IFEBP, the educational nonprofit based in Brookfield, Wisconsin. It is not a multiemployer Taft-Hartley plan, despite the foundation's primary membership consisting of multiemployer plan trustees. The plan provides retirement, death, and disability benefits to participants.
Does the IFEBP plan invest directly in companies or through funds?
The plan tags indicate exposure to buyout, distressed debt, early-stage venture, fund-of-funds, and secondaries strategies, which collectively point to a primarily fund-commitment and co-investment model. Direct-control buyouts are unlikely at the plan's estimated $25M–$100M scale, per Altss estimate. The strategy mix suggests the plan uses external managers to access small- and mid-market private equity alongside some liquid secondary market exposure.
What connection does the Wharton School have to the IFEBP plan?
Olivia S. Mitchell, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, holds the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor chair, an endowed academic position. Her research focuses on pension finance, retirement security, and public- and private-sector benefit design. The chair is funded by the foundation but Mitchell is not a plan fiduciary; the relationship underscores IFEBP's broader role in shaping pension research and policy.
Where does the plan's funding come from and is it open to outside investors?
Funding comes exclusively from employer contributions made by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans itself. The plan is a closed pension vehicle for IFEBP staff only. It does not accept outside capital, nor is it structured as a pooled investment vehicle available to other foundations, unions, or benefit plans.
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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