Pension Fund Local 96-IBEW

Pension Fund Local 96-IBEW

The Pension Fund Local 96-IBEW was established in 1965 as a defined-benefit plan jointly administered by IBEW Local 96 and the National Electrical Contractors Association. The fund serves electrical workers in central Connecticut, with employer trustees drawn from union-signatory electrical contracting firms including Ostrow Electric and Coghlin Electrical Contractors. Day-to-day administration is handled by Zenith American Solutions. Investment strategy blends fund commitments with direct co-investments across buyout, real estate, and infrastructure. The plan has historically accessed private markets through a hybrid fund-of-funds model, committing to middle-market buyout funds and real asset vehicles rather than building an in-house direct-investment team. Real estate exposure includes fund investments targeting commercial and industrial properties. The fund custodies assets through Comerica in Wallingford, Connecticut. The fund's trustee board includes employer-side representatives Susan C. Mailman of Coghlin Electrical Contractors and Kevin J. Menard of KM Kelly, alongside union-side trustees led by Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Maloney. Matthew L. Ostrow, president of Ostrow Electric, serves as board chairman. In addition to the pension fund, the union and NECA jointly sponsor the Worcester Joint Apprenticeship & Training Fund, a separate training vehicle based in Worcester, Massachusetts. As a Taft-Hartley multiemployer plan, the fund pools contributions from multiple contributing employers under a collectively bargained agreement with IBEW Local 96 — a structure that centralizes retirement assets across dozens of small electrical contractors, creating a single pool large enough to access institutional private-market funds that would be out of reach individually.