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Sheet Metal Workers, Local #10
Sheet Metal Workers, Local #10 operates as a subordinate union of the SMART international, representing skilled construction workers across Minnesota.
Sheet Metal Workers, Local #10
Sheet Metal Workers, Local #10 operates as a subordinate union of the SMART international, representing skilled construction workers across Minnesota. The local's benefit funds — distinct legal trusts from the union itself — manage the pension and welfare assets collectively bargained between Local 10 and signatory contractors affiliated with SMACNA. While public filings detail the existence of retirement, health, and training trust structures, the funds do not publicly disclose consolidated AUM. The fund's investment strategy, according to public records, is anchored in secondaries — a niche that suggests active management of private-market commitments rather than a simple buy-and-hold pool. Typical Taft-Hartley plans allocate across public equities, fixed income, and direct real estate; a deliberate secondary-market tilt implies a portfolio structured around acquiring existing LP interests, likely across private equity, infrastructure, and real estate funds. This approach helps a mature, cash-flow-sensitive plan manage unfunded commitments, lock in discounts to NAV, and shape vintage-year diversification. Confirmed property holdings include the Local 10 headquarters in Maplewood and a training center in White Bear Lake, both serving as operational real assets alongside the financial portfolio. The plan's governance centers on trustees appointed equally by the union and contributing employers, with Matthew Fairbanks and Jason Damman holding key officer roles. The fund participates in the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans, a network that advocates on regulatory and fiduciary issues specific to collectively bargained retirement plans. In 2024, multi-employer plans across the US continued to report improved funded ratios, with the aggregate funded percentage reaching its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, according to Milliman's Multiemployer Pension Funding Study. A structural distinction of Taft-Hartley plans like Local 10's is the joint trusteeship model — employers and labor co-manage the assets, with neither party holding unilateral control. For allocators, this means the fund's investment decisions filter through a fiduciary lens shaped by collective bargaining agreements, ERISA constraints, and a participant base with defined-benefit expectations. The secondary-market focus signals a liquidity-conscious committee operating with the discipline of a plan that must deliver monthly checks to retired Minnesota sheet metal workers without relying on an endowment-style perpetual horizon.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1986
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Maplewood
Corporate office
1681 East Cope Avenue, Maplewood, MN 55109, United States
Additional offices
White Bear Lake, MN (Training Center)
Principals
Matthew Fairbanks
Business Manager
Jason Damman
Financial Secretary-Treasurer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
What is the structure of Sheet Metal Workers, Local #10's investment funds?
The funds are Taft-Hartley multi-employer trusts, jointly governed by union and employer trustees. They operate independently from the union's operational budget and are subject to ERISA fiduciary standards. The structure includes a defined-benefit pension plan, health and welfare funds, and apprenticeship training assets.
Who controls the investment decisions for the Local 10 benefit plans?
A board of trustees with equal representation from the union and from contributing SMACNA contractors oversees the funds. Matthew Fairbanks serves as Business Manager and Jason Damman acts as Financial Secretary-Treasurer. Day-to-day portfolio management is typically delegated to external consultants and investment managers, as is standard for plans of this structure.
Why is the Local 10 pension plan focused on secondaries?
Public records indicate a deliberate secondary-market emphasis. For a mature Taft-Hartley plan with ongoing benefit obligations, secondary purchases of existing LP interests can offer negotiated discounts to NAV, shorter durations to liquidity, and a way to retroactively balance vintage-year exposure — all useful tools for a plan that must carefully manage cash flows to meet monthly retiree distributions.
Does Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 co-invest directly or only through funds?
The plan's known direct holdings appear limited to union-operational real estate, including its Maplewood headquarters and the White Bear Lake training center. Investment portfolio assets are almost certainly accessed through commingled funds and secondary-market acquisitions rather than direct co-investment or single-asset SPVs, consistent with the governance constraints of a jointly trusteed plan.
How is Local 10 related to the international SMART union?
Local 10 is a subordinate local of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART). While the international provides bargaining and organizing support, the Local 10 benefit funds are independently governed trusts specific to the Minnesota jurisdiction. Scholarship support flows through the Sheet Metal Workers' International Scholarship Foundation, a separate entity.
What is the funded status of the Local 10 pension plan?
The plan does not publish a current funded ratio for individual trust disclosure. Broader multi-employer plan data tracked by Milliman shows the aggregate funded ratio reached 89% as of mid-2024, up from a low near 70% a decade ago. A Local 10 plan in the 'green zone' under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act would imply no pending benefit reductions, but specific status remains undisclosed.
Does the Local 10 plan have exposure to asset classes beyond secondaries?
While the strategic tilt is toward secondaries, a typical multi-employer allocation also includes public equities, core fixed income, and occasionally direct real estate. The plan's owned real estate suggests a real-asset book alongside financial holdings. Exact allocations are not publicly reported, but the secondary focus implies a portfolio that is predominantly private-market oriented rather than heavily weighted toward daily-liquid public securities.
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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