Schulte Roth & Zabel Pension Plan

The plan's investment decisions are guided by Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP partners in the Employment & Employee Benefits Group, principally Ronald E. Richman and David M. Cohen. Partners Ian L. Levin and Jennifer A. Neilsson also contribute to the investment oversight. Associate Andrew B. Lowy advises on ERISA compliance and regulatory boundaries for the plan's alternative investments.

The plan benefits from Schulte Roth & Zabel's position as a leading law firm for the hedge fund industry. Its trustees have direct professional exposure to hundreds of fund launches, side-letter negotiations, and manager due diligence processes. This proximity creates an informal but real early-warning system on manager quality and strategy shifts that a stand-alone plan of similar size would lack.

It is a traditional single-employer defined-benefit pension plan, not a family office or asset manager. Its hybrid nature comes from its institutional limited partner behavior — committing to multiple alternative-asset managers — while remaining a corporate employee benefit plan ERISA-governed and advised in-house by employment benefits lawyers who are also the firm's partners.

The plan's alternative investment portfolio is built through fund commitments to external managers, a classic multi-manager approach for a pension plan of this size. There is no public evidence of direct co-investments or separate managed accounts; the $35M asset base makes fund-of-funds and primary fund commitments the most efficient route.

The alternative investment portfolio spans four targeted asset classes: hedge funds, private credit, real estate, and secondaries and special situations. This diversified allocation model is consistent with a plan that seeks risk-adjusted returns across market cycles while preserving the liquidity needed to meet retiree benefit obligations.

The plan has not publicly disclosed a co-investment program. At an estimated $35M in total assets, the economic ticket size for direct co-investments would strain concentration limits. The more likely structure is a fund-of-funds or multi-strategy allocation, given the plan's access to multiple managers through the firm's extensive investment management client base.

The plan is governed by ERISA as a single-employer plan, with Trustees drawn from the firm's partnership. The overlap between the individuals who negotiate fund terms on behalf of investment-manager clients and those who oversee the firm's own plan creates a knowledge advantage but also requires strict conflict-screening. Andrew B. Lowy's role as ERISA specialist specifically addresses the required arm's-length compliance.