Pension Fund

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Northern California Electrical Workers Pension Plan

Northern California Electrical Workers Pension Plan was established in 1961. It offers defined benefits to eligible employees in the biotech and life science...

Northern California Electrical Workers Pension Plan logo

Northern California Electrical Workers Pension Plan

Northern California Electrical Workers Pension Plan was established in 1961. It offers defined benefits to eligible employees in the biotech and life science sectors.

General information

Firm type

Pension Fund

Year founded

1961

AUM

Undisclosed

Location

Region

North America

Country

United States

City

San Francisco

Corporate office

San Francisco, CA, United States

Principals

John Doherty

Chair of the Board of Trustees

Thomas Coleman

Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees

Sector focus

BuyoutInfrastructureReal EstateCommodities

Frequently asked questions

Who makes investment decisions at the Northern California Electrical Workers Pension Plan?

A Board of Trustees jointly governs the plan, split equally between union representatives and management representatives as required under Taft-Hartley rules. John Doherty of IBEW Local 6 chairs the board, with Thomas Coleman of the San Francisco Electrical Contractors Association as co-chair. The board relies on the Electrical Industry Service Bureau (EISB) for administrative support. Named managers — including IFM, BlackRock, JPMorgan, Mellon, and Schroder — suggest an external consultant or dedicated staff assists with manager selection, though the exact delegation of investment authority is not public.

Does the plan invest primarily through funds or through direct deals?

The portfolio is constructed entirely through fund commitments, with no public record of direct co-investments or separate accounts. Known vehicles include IFM Global Infrastructure (US), L.P., JPMorgan Strategic Property Fund, Schroder Commodity Portfolio L.P., Mellon EB Daily Valued Global Alpha I Fund, and the BlackRock Global Allocation Collective Fund. The 'Buyout' strategy tag applied across multiple entries suggests heavy commitments to private equity buyout funds, likely through several traditional limited partnership interests.

What asset classes does the fund target?

Public filings and known commitments point to a diversified institutional mix: private equity buyout funds, global infrastructure (via IFM), domestic commercial real estate (via JPMorgan), commodities (via Schroder), and public-market global equities (via Mellon and BlackRock). The BlackRock Global Allocation Collective Fund adds tactical multi-asset exposure. No venture capital, private credit, or direct real-asset ownership is evident from available disclosures.

How is the pension plan related to IBEW Local 6 and the SFECA?

IBEW Local 6 represents electrical workers in San Francisco whose wages and benefits are set through collective bargaining with the San Francisco Electrical Contractors Association (SFECA). The pension plan is the Taft-Hartley multiemployer vehicle funded by SFECA-member employer contributions on behalf of IBEW Local 6 members. A related trust — the San Francisco Electrical Workers Health & Welfare Trust — provides health benefits. Administration for all three entities (pension, health, and the Electrical Industry Service Bureau) is centralized at the same San Francisco administrative office.

Is there a philanthropic component associated with the pension plan?

No philanthropic vehicle is directly tied to the pension plan's trust structure. The IBEW Local 6 Member Benevolent Fund exists as a union-operated charitable fund, but it operates separately from the pension trust. Standard Taft-Hartley fiduciary rules would require any separate charitable structure to remain fully independent of pension-plan governance.

What investment strategies does the plan explicitly avoid?

Public records do not list explicit negative screens or prohibited asset classes. The observed portfolio is conventional for a Taft-Hartley plan: concentrated in funds rather than direct deals, with no venture capital, emerging-manager, or co-investment programs publicly identified. The absence of those strategies may reflect the joint-trustee dynamic, where consensus-building favors established manager relationships and liquid-adjacent public vehicles over higher-velocity private-market programs.

How large is the plan, and is its funded status public?

Neither total assets nor funded status are publicly disclosed. The plan does not report AUM and is not required to file a public 5500 that would reveal asset levels. Without a published annual report or posted investment-policy statement, any estimate would be speculative. Allocators seeking a peer comparison should note that Taft-Hartley plans of this mid-tier urban-local scope typically run from the high hundreds of millions to low single-digit billions, depending on contributing employer count and maturity.

Profile maintained by 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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