# Iron Workers' Mid-America Pension Plan

Iron Workers' Mid-America Pension Plan is a Pension Fund based in Lansing, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Lansing, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** 2350 East 170th Street, Lansing, IL 60438, United States
- **Founded:** 1957
- **Assets under management:** $918 million (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** iwmidamerica.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.iwmidamerica.com

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Iron Workers' Mid-America Pension Plan was established in 1957 to provide retirement benefits to members of affiliated local unions across Illinois and Indiana. Plan Administrator Joseph J. Burke oversees operations from the fund's office in Lansing, Illinois, which also houses the related Iron Workers Mid-America Supplemental Monthly Annuity (SMA) Fund and the Iron Workers Tri-State Welfare Fund. Contributing employers include publicly traded Apogee Enterprises, Inc., and participating locals span ten chapters of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers (AFL-CIO). The plan deploys capital across a broad mandate: confirmed positions include direct ownership of its own office building at 2350 East 170th Street in Lansing, an interest in the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust, and a commitment to CIM Fund IX, a mixed-use vehicle in Los Angeles. Its strategy spans real estate, buyout, venture capital, growth equity, mezzanine, direct secondaries, and special situations. The fund participates both as a limited partner in commingled vehicles and through direct co-investments, blending a traditional institutional portfolio with an unusually direct operating footprint for a union pension. The plan operates from a single location in Lansing, Illinois, with plan administration shared by Burke, Paul E. Flasch, and Barbara J. Chapin. The fund maintains reciprocal agreements with peer labor plans such as the Central Laborers' Pension, Welfare, and Annuity Funds. As a founding member of the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), the plan has long signaled alignment with governance best practices in private-market investing. Structurally, the pension is unusual among Taft-Hartley plans in maintaining an in-house venture and co-investment capability rather than relying exclusively on external consultants or fund-of-funds managers. This direct posture, coupled with the backing of a stable multi-employer contribution base, gives the plan a distinctive hybrid profile — part institutional allocator, part direct investor — that few union pension funds replicate.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Private Equity
- Venture Capital
- Buyout
- Secondaries & Special Situations

## People

- Joseph J. Burke — Plan Administrator and Trustee
- Paul E. Flasch — Plan Administrator
- Barbara J. Chapin — Assistant Plan Administrator

## Questions

### Who oversees investment decisions at the Iron Workers' Mid-America Pension Plan?

Plan administration and oversight sit with Joseph J. Burke, who serves as both Plan Administrator and Trustee, supported by Paul E. Flasch (Plan Administrator) and Barbara J. Chapin (Assistant Plan Administrator). Burke holds CEBS and SHRM-SCP designations and functions as the central fiduciary responsible for the fund's operations.

### How is the plan structured, and who contributes to it?

The plan is a multi-employer Taft-Hartley pension fund serving members of ten local Iron Workers unions across Illinois and Indiana. Contributing employers include publicly traded Apogee Enterprises, Inc. and a network of regional contractors, with the fund operating reciprocal agreements with peer plans such as the Central Laborers' Pension, Welfare, and Annuity Funds.

### What investment strategies does the plan pursue?

The plan's strategy covers real estate, buyout, venture capital, growth equity, mezzanine, direct secondaries, and special situations. Deployment includes fund commitments, direct co-investments, and direct property ownership — including its own office building in Lansing, Illinois and a position in CIM Fund IX, a Los Angeles mixed-use vehicle.

### Does the plan invest directly or only through external managers?

The plan operates a hybrid model: it commits as a limited partner to third-party funds, participates in direct co-investments, and holds direct real estate assets. This direct capability distinguishes it from many Taft-Hartley plans that rely primarily on consultants and fund-of-funds structures.

### How is the plan related to other Iron Workers benefit vehicles?

The pension plan operates alongside the Iron Workers Mid-America Supplemental Monthly Annuity (SMA) Fund and the Iron Workers Tri-State Welfare Fund, all administered from the same Lansing, Illinois office. These trusts serve overlapping participant populations but remain separately governed benefit pools.

## Related profiles

- [Oregon Health & Sciences University Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/oregon-health-sciences-university-foundation)
- [Electrical Workers Local No. 26 Pension Fund](https://altss.com/profile/electrical-workers-local-no-26-pension-fund)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/iron-workers-mid-america-pension-plan

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