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Local 703 IBT Grocery & Food Employees' Pension Fund
Local 703 IBT Grocery & Food Employees' Pension Fund was established in 1950 as a defined-benefit plan serving members of Teamsters Local 703, a labor...
Local 703 IBT Grocery & Food Employees' Pension Fund
Local 703 IBT Grocery & Food Employees' Pension Fund was established in 1950 as a defined-benefit plan serving members of Teamsters Local 703, a labor union representing workers in Chicago-area grocery, produce, and food-processing industries. The fund emerged from the post-war expansion of collectively bargained benefits and remains governed by a joint board of union and employer trustees. Benefits Management Group, Inc. administers day-to-day operations, a common arrangement among small-to-midsized Taft-Hartley plans that lack dedicated in-house investment staff. The fund deploys capital through a diversified fund-of-funds structure, committing to commingled vehicles across public equity, fixed income, real estate equity, and cash equivalents. Direct portfolio holdings are not publicly disclosed, but Department of Labor Form 5500 filings confirm exposure to common collective trusts and master trust vehicles — a hallmark of multiemployer plans that pool assets for scale. The real estate sleeve includes mixed-use properties, though individual property-level detail is not disaggregated in public filings. Investments span the United States, with no publicly documented international allocation. The fund's posture reflects its fiduciary mandate: capital preservation and reliable income generation to meet monthly benefit obligations for retirees across Northern Illinois. Trustees Patrick W. Flynn, Anthony L. Lamy, and Thomas J. Stiede — all officers of the parent union — represent labor interests on the board. Employer trustees, including Co-Chair Donna L. Spagnola, balance governance. The fund participates in the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans, the sector's primary advocacy group, and sends representatives to International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans conferences. It shares administrative infrastructure with the Chicago Area I.B. of T. Severance and Retirement Plan, a related multiemployer vehicle with overlapping trusteeship. The fund's total participant count and funded ratio are publicly available through annual Form 5500 filings. The operational hub sits at 1333 Butterfield Road in suburban Downers Grove, Illinois, co-located with the union's administrative offices. What distinguishes the fund structurally is its status as a legacy Taft-Hartley plan operating in a consolidating sector. As grocery supply chains automate and union density declines, the fund faces demographic headwinds familiar to multiemployer plans: a shrinking active-participant base supporting a growing retiree population. The fund does not run internal investment committees of the kind found at large public pensions; all manager selection is delegated, making the quality of its consultant relationships and gatekeeper due diligence the binding constraint on portfolio outcomes.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1950
AUM
$100M - $250M (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Oak Brook
Corporate office
1333 Butterfield Road, Suite 110, Downers Grove, IL 60515, United States
Principals
Patrick W. Flynn
President, Teamsters Local 703 & Trustee
Anthony L. Lamy
Secretary-Treasurer, Teamsters Local 703 & Trustee
Thomas J. Stiede
Vice President, Teamsters Local 703 & Trustee
Michael G. DiGrazia
Recording Secretary, Teamsters Local 703 & Trustee
Donna L. Spagnola
Co-Chair Employer Trustee
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes the investment decisions at the fund?
The Board of Trustees holds ultimate fiduciary authority. Day-to-day investment management is outsourced to institutional managers through a fund-of-funds structure. The board is composed equally of union-appointed trustees — including President Patrick W. Flynn and Secretary-Treasurer Anthony L. Lamy — and employer-appointed trustees. Benefits Management Group, Inc. provides administrative support. The fund does not employ a dedicated internal chief investment officer.
What is the fund's asset allocation strategy?
Public Form 5500 filings indicate a diversified allocation spanning public equity, fixed income, real estate equity, and cash equivalents, accessed primarily through commingled vehicles and collective trusts. The real estate portfolio includes mixed-use properties. Alternative asset exposure beyond real estate is not publicly documented, consistent with the conservative liability-driven posture of small multiemployer plans.
How is the fund structured compared to other Teamsters pension plans?
It is a single-local plan — covering only members of Local 703 in Northern Illinois — rather than a regional or national fund like the Central States Pension Fund. It shares administrative and trustee overlap with the Chicago Area I.B. of T. Severance and Retirement Plan, which suggests coordinated back-office operations but legally distinct asset pools and fiduciary obligations.
What is the fund's current funded status?
The fund's most recent funded ratio is available through the Department of Labor's Form 5500 database and annual funding notices provided to plan participants. Multiemployer plans in the grocery sector have faced demographic pressure from a declining active-to-retiree ratio, but individual plan-level funded status requires review of the most recent actuarial valuation.
Does the fund invest directly in operating companies or only through funds?
The fund deploys capital exclusively through commingled vehicles, collective trusts, and master trust arrangements. There is no evidence of direct co-investment activity, direct private equity stakes, or separately managed accounts targeting individual operating companies. This fund-of-funds posture reflects a resource-constrained governance model that delegates manager selection to institutional gatekeepers.
How is the fund governed and who are the key fiduciaries?
Governance follows the Taft-Hartley joint-board model. Union trustees are drawn from Local 703's executive board: Patrick W. Flynn (President), Anthony L. Lamy (Secretary-Treasurer), Thomas J. Stiede (Vice President), and Michael G. DiGrazia (Recording Secretary). Employer trustees include Donna L. Spagnola as Co-Chair. The board operates without a separate investment committee, relying on external consultants for asset allocation and manager selection advice.
What industries do the plan participants come from?
Members work primarily in grocery, produce, and food-processing industries within the Chicago metropolitan area and Northern Illinois. This concentration in a single regional industrial base — unionized food distribution — means the fund's contribution base is highly correlated with the local grocery labor market, an important structural consideration for long-term contribution stability.
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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