Rhode Island Carpenters Pension Fund

Rhode Island Carpenters Pension Fund

The Rhode Island Carpenters Pension Fund provided retirement security for union carpenters, funded by employer contributions until its merger into the New England Carpenters Pension Fund on January 1, 2018. The consolidation joined the Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Maine carpenter funds, an operational decision designed to strengthen financial stability by aggregating assets under a single administrative structure overseen by the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. Prior to the merger, the fund's investment strategy spanned buyout, growth equity, distressed debt, mezzanine, and special situations, accessed primarily through fund-of-funds and co-investment multi-manager structures. The portfolio included direct real estate interests: a commercial office at 14 Jefferson Park Road in Warwick, Rhode Island, and an indirect interest in the Dublin Corporate Center in Dublin, California. Geographic focus remained concentrated in the Northeast and select West Coast real assets. Trusteeship included Tom Flynn in the role of Executive Secretary-Treasurer and Labor Trustee. The fund maintained ties to the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. Effective January 2018, all assets and liabilities transferred to the New England Carpenters Pension Fund, consolidating in Wilmington, Massachusetts. The merger represents a structural response to multi-employer pension plan funding challenges, combining three regional carpenter funds into a single entity to improve bargaining power over employers and share administrative costs. The successor fund operates under a similar multi-employer framework but with a broadened asset base that alters the risk profile for remaining participants.