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Retail Food Employers & UFCW Local 711 Pension
The Retail Food Employers & UFCW Local 711 Pension is a multiemployer Taft-Hartley plan built around collective bargaining agreements between the UFCW...
Retail Food Employers & UFCW Local 711 Pension
The Retail Food Employers & UFCW Local 711 Pension is a multiemployer Taft-Hartley plan built around collective bargaining agreements between the UFCW Local 711 union and major grocery chains. Founding details are not publicly documented, but the plan’s contributing employers include The Kroger Co. and its Smith’s Food & Drug division, Albertsons subsidiaries Safeway and Vons, as well as Utah-based operators Harmons, Reams Food Stores, and Bowmans Market. National Product Sales and Save Mart Supermarkets also participate as employer contributors. Deanna Leivas, Secretary-Treasurer of UFCW Local 711, serves as a trustee alongside Michael Gittings and Ian Adams, linking governance directly to the bargaining unit itself. The fund maintains an active real estate portfolio alongside private credit exposures, with known fund commitments structured through externally managed vehicles. Its strategy is disclosed as buyout-oriented, and the plan’s administrator — Southwest Service Administrators, Inc. — processes over 1.2 million annual health claims, signaling substantial operational scale beyond the pension fund alone. Asset allocation details are not published, but the dual focus on real estate and private credit implies a return-seeking posture within the constraints facing a plan in critical status. The registered address in Murray, Utah anchors operations in the Intermountain West, where its grocery-base employer contributions are concentrated. The plan’s trajectory has been defined by funding distress. Certified in critical status in 2010 and again in 2020, it applied for Special Financial Assistance (SFA) from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation — a program created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to restore troubled multiemployer plans to full funding. SSA, the fund’s third-party administrator, handles Taft-Hartley administration for clients across 20-plus states and Mexico, with a combined staff experience exceeding 100 years. June 2024: The PBGC’s Special Financial Assistance program finalized its rules on repayment obligations for plans receiving aid, directly affecting the fund's ongoing restructuring posture. What distinguishes this fund is its complete integration with the collective bargaining lifecycle. Unlike public pensions or corporate plans, every liability traces back to negotiated rates at specific grocery chains — Kroger, Albertsons, independent Utah grocers — and every trustee seat reflects union-employer parity. The SFA infusion will recapitalize the plan without member benefit cuts, but it also permanently links the PBGC’s solvency oversight to UFCW Local 711’s bargaining table. The plan’s related Sound Variable Annuity Pension Trust adds a companion vehicle under similar governance.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
—
AUM
$300M – $400M (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Murray
Corporate office
Murray, UT, United States
Principals
Deanna Leivas
Trustee, Secretary-Treasurer of UFCW Local 711
Michael Gittings
Trustee
Ian Adams
Trustee
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Retail Food Employers & UFCW Local 711 Pension?
A joint board of union and employer trustees governs all plan decisions, including investment allocation. Deanna Leivas, Secretary-Treasurer of UFCW Local 711, is the authorized signatory and leading union trustee. Employer-side trustees Michael Gittings and Ian Adams provide management parity. Day-to-day investment implementation and fund monitoring are delegated to external managers and the plan’s third-party administrator, Southwest Service Administrators, Inc.
What is the fund's current funded status and why does it matter?
The plan was certified in critical status twice — first in 2010 and again in 2020 — meaning it faced a projected inability to pay full benefits within the following plan year(s). This triggered mandatory rehabilitation plans and, ultimately, an application for Special Financial Assistance from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. SFA receipt will recapitalize the plan on a forward basis, restoring full benefit security for participants.
How does the plan relate to Kroger and Albertsons?
Kroger (via its Smith’s Food & Drug division) and Albertsons (via Safeway and Vons subsidiaries) are among the largest contributing retail food employers to the plan. Their collective bargaining agreements with UFCW Local 711 set contribution rates that fund the pension’s liabilities. The plan’s financial health is therefore directly tied to employment levels and contract terms at these grocers.
Does the pension fund make direct investments or use external managers?
The fund’s assets are deployed into real estate fund portfolios and externally managed private credit vehicles, reflecting an allocator model rather than internal direct investing. Its stated strategy is buyout-oriented, but disclosed positions suggest fund-of-funds and co-mingled vehicle structures rather than direct company ownership by the pension trust.
What is Southwest Service Administrators, Inc.'s role?
Southwest Service Administrators, Inc. (SSA) acts as the third-party administrator for the Retail Food Employers & UFCW Local 711 Pension, handling claims processing, contribution accounting, and government filings. SSA serves over 100,000 members across 20-plus states and Mexico, processing 1.2 million-plus health claims annually — a scale that dwarfs the pension fund’s own participant base, indicating SSA administers multiple Taft-Hartley plans.
How has the American Rescue Plan Act affected this pension fund?
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 created the PBGC’s Special Financial Assistance Program for severely underfunded multiemployer plans. The Retail Food Employers & UFCW Local 711 Pension applied for SFA, which will deliver a lump-sum grant sized to pay all projected benefits through 2051 without participant cuts. Final rules on repayment obligations were issued in June 2024.
Is the plan's governance structure typical for multiemployer pensions?
In form, yes — equal union-employer trustee representation is standard Taft-Hartley architecture. What is notable is the plan’s long reliance on a single local union (UFCW 711) in a concentrated geographic market (Utah and surrounding states), making its participant pool and contribution base less diversified than large national multiemployer plans. The Secretary-Treasurer of the union herself serves as trustee, tying bargaining outcomes directly to fiduciary decisions.
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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