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Pension Plan of the Welfare & Pension Fund Mid-Jersey Trucking
The Pension Plan of the Welfare & Pension Fund Mid-Jersey Trucking was established in 1958 as a defined-benefit plan covering members of Teamsters Local 701, a...
Pension Plan of the Welfare & Pension Fund Mid-Jersey Trucking
The Pension Plan of the Welfare & Pension Fund Mid-Jersey Trucking was established in 1958 as a defined-benefit plan covering members of Teamsters Local 701, a union representing truck drivers and warehouse workers across New Jersey. Ronald Lake serves as president of the local and authorized trustee of the fund, with Giancarlo Prezioso as fund manager. The wealth originates from multi-employer contributions, though the fund has navigated complex relationships with major contributors like Yellow Corporation, which has a history of contribution deferrals and withdrawal liability litigation. Unlike most pension funds that allocate heavily to public equities and investment-grade bonds, Mid-Jersey Trucking has concentrated its strategy in mezzanine financing and private credit. This means the fund provides subordinated debt to middle-market companies, often in structured transactions that sit between senior bank loans and equity. It shares back-office infrastructure and personnel with the Bakery Drivers Local 194 Pension Fund and the Teamsters Local 418 Pension Fund, creating an informal co-investment cluster among New Jersey Teamster funds. A known unrelated asset is the fund's own office building at 2003 US Route 130 in North Brunswick. The fund has not publicly disclosed its total professional headcount or full portfolio breakdown. Its estimated $328M asset base (Altss estimate) places it in the small to mid-tier of US multi-employer plans. Related union associations include Teamsters Joint Council 73, where Ronald Lake serves as Recording Secretary, embedding the fund in a broader regional labor governance structure. No new fund launches or structural reorganizations have been publicly reported in the last 24 months. Its structural differentiator is an artificial concentration: rather than diversifying across asset classes like a typical institutional investor, the fund has made a single-strategy bet on mezzanine credit. This gives it a return profile more akin to a private debt fund than a pension plan, a posture that likely stems from the trustee's need to close funding gaps without equity-volatility risk. The overlapping governance with other Local Teamster funds suggests a coordinated regional investment apparatus, though the exact decision-making hierarchy remains opaque.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1958
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
North Brunswick
Corporate office
2003 US Route 130, Suite A, North Brunswick, NJ 08902
Principals
Ronald Lake
President of Teamsters Local 701 and Authorized Trustee
Giancarlo Prezioso
Fund Manager
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Mid-Jersey Trucking pension fund?
Giancarlo Prezioso serves as the Fund Manager for the Teamsters Local 701 Benefit Funds, handling day-to-day investment operations. Ronald Lake, as President of Teamsters Local 701 and Authorized Trustee, holds ultimate fiduciary authority over the pension plan. Investment decisions are governed by ERISA and subject to trustee board approval.
What is the fund's primary investment strategy?
The fund concentrates heavily in mezzanine debt, providing subordinated financing to middle-market companies. This is unusual for a multi-employer pension plan, as most comparable Taft-Hartley funds allocate predominantly to public equities, investment-grade bonds, and real estate. The mezzanine strategy generates current yield while sitting higher in the capital structure than pure equity.
How is the fund related to other New Jersey Teamster pension plans?
The Mid-Jersey Trucking fund shares facilities at 2003 US Route 130, Suite A in North Brunswick and personnel with the Bakery Drivers Local 194 Pension Fund and the Teamsters Local 418 Pension Fund. This consolidation of back-office operations suggests coordinated governance across multiple local unions, though each plan maintains its own trust and investment program.
What is Yellow Corporation's relationship to this pension fund?
Yellow Corporation, formerly YRC Worldwide, was a major contributing employer to the Mid-Jersey Trucking pension fund. The relationship has been contentious—Yellow has a documented history of contribution deferral agreements and has been involved in withdrawal liability litigation with the fund. When Yellow ceased operations in 2023, it likely triggered withdrawal liability claims affecting the fund's contribution base.
Is the fund fully funded, and how does it handle unfunded liability risk?
The fund's exact funded status is not publicly disclosed. Multi-employer Taft-Hartley plans like Mid-Jersey Trucking face structural challenges: declining union membership, corporate bankruptcies triggering withdrawal liability, and the need for PBGC multi-employer program backstops. The mezzanine-credit tilt may reflect an effort to generate excess returns that close funding gaps over time.
Does the fund invest with external managers or manage assets internally?
The fund appears to operate with a lean internal team led by Giancarlo Prezioso, with investment decisions approved by the trustee board. The mezzanine-debt concentration suggests either an internally managed direct origination program or deep relationships with a small number of private-credit managers. The exact sourcing model is not publicly documented.
What regulatory oversight applies to this pension plan?
As a Taft-Hartley multi-employer defined-benefit plan, it is governed by ERISA and must file annual Form 5500 reports with the Department of Labor. It is also subject to PBGC multi-employer insurance program rules. Union trustees and employer trustees serve as co-fiduciaries under a joint board structure typical of Teamster-affiliated plans.
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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