Local 351 IBEW Pension Plan

Local 351 IBEW Pension Plan

The Local 351 IBEW Pension Plan provides retirement security for electrical workers in southern New Jersey whose employers contribute under collective bargaining agreements with the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). A joint board of union and employer trustees, including Union Trustee Daniel Cosner and Employer Trustee Jeffrey Houde, governs the plan. The fund's posture is that of a classic Taft-Hartley multi-employer plan — long-duration, conservatively managed, and focused on delivering defined benefits to a closed and aging participant base. The plan allocates capital across a mix of traditional asset classes, with a disclosed focus on direct real estate and timberland investments within the United States. Rather than chasing venture or aggressive private equity, the fund's real asset sleeve appears oriented toward inflation-hedging, yield-generating properties. Known contributing employers include heavy electrical contractors Riggs Distler & Company and Day & Zimmerman NPS, as well as regional firms like Calvi Electric, whose negotiated contribution rates directly impact the plan's annual cash flows and liquidity horizon. Administration is handled through an external firm based in Hammonton, New Jersey, reflecting the resource profile of a mid-sized, single-local pension fund. The trustees participate in the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), the standard professional network for multi-employer plan fiduciaries, for education and governance benchmarking. While specific AUM and detailed portfolio holdings are not publicly reported, the plan's membership in a building-trades union with strong regional market share in Philadelphia-adjacent South Jersey suggests a stable contribution base. Structurally, the fund's defining characteristic is its joint trusteeship model — no single family office CIO or outsourced CIO calls the shots. Investment decisions and manager selections are made by a committee equally split between IBEW Local 351 and NECA-represented employers, an architecture that creates a natural check on risk appetite and favors straightforward, transparent allocations like direct real estate over complex, fee-laden alternative structures.