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New Jersey Laborers
The New Jersey Building Laborers Statewide Pension Fund was established in 1965 to provide retirement, disability, and death benefits to members of six...
New Jersey Laborers
The New Jersey Building Laborers Statewide Pension Fund was established in 1965 to provide retirement, disability, and death benefits to members of six Laborers' International Union of North America locals in the state, including Locals 3, 55, 77, 78, 325, and 620. Plan Administrator Michael Hellstrom and Trustee Hipelito Eng oversee the fund's operations from its Iselin headquarters, routing contributions from working construction laborers into a defined-benefit structure that has weathered multiple economic cycles. The fund deploys across private equity, real estate, and infrastructure, with a pronounced tilt toward tangible assets. Its real estate portfolio spans core commercial properties and a dedicated data center strategy, reflecting a preference for income-generating hard assets that align with the construction trades its members practice. On the private equity side, the fund has historically participated in buyout-oriented strategies, often through fund commitments rather than direct control deals. Geographic focus remains overwhelmingly North American, with satellite administrative presence in Jersey City supporting its member-facing operations. The plan's scale is modest by statewide pension standards — Altss estimates total assets above $500 million — but its structure as a multiemployer fund gives it a distinct governance rhythm. Investment decisions flow through a joint board of union and management trustees, a model that inherently ties allocation choices to the welfare of a defined labor pool rather than a distant actuarial table. The fund maintains a nominee entity, The Realty Corp, for certain real estate holdings, and its fleet vehicles and operational offices add a layer of directly owned physical assets uncommon among peers. The fund's structural differentiator lies in its embedded alignment with the construction industry. Unlike most institutional allocators, its beneficiaries physically build the asset classes — commercial real estate, data centers, infrastructure — that dominate its portfolio. This creates a feedback loop where capital deployment and member employment operate within the same economic ecosystem, making the fund a mechanism for reinvesting labor-generated wealth back into the built environments those laborers produce.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1965
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Iselin
Corporate office
485 Route 1, Suite B-401, Iselin, NJ 08830, United States
Additional offices
Jersey City, NJ, United States
Principals
Michael Hellstrom
Plan Administrator
Hipelito Eng
Trustee
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the New Jersey Laborers pension fund?
Investment and administrative decisions are overseen by a joint board of union and management trustees, with Michael Hellstrom serving as Plan Administrator. The board operates under the governance standards required for multiemployer Taft-Hartley plans, meaning labor representatives and contributing employers share fiduciary responsibility. Day-to-day management is supported by outside investment consultants and fund managers, though the internal administrative team handles asset monitoring and benefit disbursements.
How is the fund structured in relation to the union itself?
The New Jersey Building Laborers Statewide Pension Fund is a legally separate trust from the New Jersey Building Construction Laborers District Council and LIUNA. Employer contributions are negotiated through collective bargaining agreements and paid into the trust, which is administered independently under ERISA. Union officers may serve as trustees, but the fund is not an asset of the union — it exists solely to pay promised benefits.
Does the fund invest directly in real estate or through fund managers?
The fund maintains a core commercial real estate portfolio that includes directly owned properties, including its own headquarters in Iselin and a Jersey City office. A dedicated data center strategy and the existence of a nominee entity called The Realty Corp suggest a mix of direct ownership and fund commitments. The fund is known to participate in North American commercial real estate and data center investments, reflecting its members' connection to the construction trades.
Which labor union locals does the fund serve?
The fund covers members of six LIUNA locals in New Jersey: Locals 3, 55, 77, 78, 325, and 620. These locals represent building construction laborers across the state. Employer contributions from signatory contractors flow into the fund on a per-hour-worked basis, as defined by each local's collective bargaining agreement with the New Jersey Building Construction Laborers District Council.
Is this fund open to other Taft-Hartley plans for co-investment?
Multiemployer pension funds occasionally co-invest alongside each other through shared fund commitments or club-style vehicles, though the New Jersey Laborers fund does not publicly advertise a co-investment program. Given its relatively modest scale and trustee-governed structure, portfolio decisions are likely made through traditional fund manager relationships rather than direct syndicates.
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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