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Sheet Metal Workers' Local Union No. 104
Founded in 1958, the Sheet Metal Workers' Pension Plan of Northern California provides defined benefits to union members whose careers mapped the commercial...
Sheet Metal Workers' Local Union No. 104
Founded in 1958, the Sheet Metal Workers' Pension Plan of Northern California provides defined benefits to union members whose careers mapped the commercial and industrial build-out of the Bay Area and Central Valley. The plan is a joint trust, overseen by a board of trustees split evenly between union officials and employer representatives, primarily from SMACNA. Rick Werner, as President and Business Manager of Local 104, and Mike Nesbitt, as Financial Secretary-Treasurer, serve as the named fiduciaries most visible to the membership and the contractor community. The plan's investment strategy reflects the constraints and priorities common to Taft-Hartley plans — predictable liquidity for retiree checks paired with a diversified push into non-correlated assets. Asset classes in the portfolio include private real estate, mezzanine lending, natural resources, and secondary private equity interests, all accessed predominantly through fund-of-funds vehicles. While specific co-investments or fund names are not publicly itemized, the strategy implies relationships with infrastructure and real asset managers active in Western U.S. energy, timberland, and middle-market credit. Geographic concentration remains heavily weighted in Northern California, with administrative and benefits operations in Livermore and San Ramon augmenting the union's network of dispatch offices and training centers from San Francisco to Fresno. Scale mirrors the union's footprint: approximately 1,439 million dollars in plan assets supporting a membership base that works across Sheet Metal and HVAC fabrication and installation. Ancillary structures include the Robert G. Mammini Scholarship Trust Fund and a Member Hardship Fund, both organized as 501(c)(3) vehicles that operate alongside, but legally separate from, the pension trust. The plan's offices span an administrative hub in Livermore, a health-plan office in San Ramon, and a network of union halls and training centers — a physical infrastructure that underscores the plan's roots in the skilled trades economy. The structural differentiator is the plan's governance architecture. Unlike single-employer pensions that can be terminated and handed to the PBGC when a sponsor fails, a multiemployer plan's liabilities are shared across the contributing employers. If one contractor goes under, the remaining signatory shops absorb the liability. That collective-risk design forces conservative actuarial assumptions and explains a portfolio allocation that blends long-duration private asset exposure with the steady cash-flow management required of a plan that remains fully dependent on employer contributions — no state backstop, no single corporate parent.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1958
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Livermore
Corporate office
Livermore, CA, United States
Additional offices
San Ramon, CA · San Francisco, CA · San Jose, CA · San Leandro, CA · Fairfield, CA · Vallejo, CA · Fresno, CA
Principals
Rick Werner
President and Business Manager
Mike Nesbitt
Financial Secretary-Treasurer and Recording Secretary
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How is the Sheet Metal Workers' Pension Plan of Northern California governed?
The plan is governed by a joint board of trustees with equal representation from union officials of Local 104 and management representatives from SMACNA, the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association. This Taft-Hartley structure ensures neither labor nor management controls investment decisions unilaterally. The named fiduciaries most closely associated with day-to-day oversight are President and Business Manager Rick Werner and Financial Secretary-Treasurer Mike Nesbitt.
What investment strategies does the plan employ?
The plan pursues a multi-asset strategy built around a core fund-of-funds allocation, supplemented by mezzanine debt, natural resources, and secondaries. This mix allows the plan to access private equity and real asset exposures without the staffing overhead of a direct investment program. The precise manager roster is not disclosed, but the allocation pattern is consistent with other large building-trades pension funds in the Western United States (per public record).
What is the source of the plan's funding?
The plan is funded entirely by employer contributions negotiated through collective bargaining agreements with signatory sheet metal and HVAC contractors across Northern California. Members do not contribute a portion of their paycheck; the entire contribution is an employer-side obligation pegged to hours worked. This contribution model is the defining financial feature of a defined-benefit multiemployer plan.
Does the plan maintain philanthropic or hardship programs?
Yes. The plan supports a Robert G. Mammini Scholarship Trust Fund for members' families and a Member Hardship Fund. These are legally segregated 501(c)(3) entities — not assets of the pension trust — and their operation does not draw on the plan's investment corpus. The scholarship is named for a former union officer and is a common feature of union-administered benefit plans.
How does the plan relate to the broader SMART union structure?
Local 104 is an affiliate of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART). The pension plan is a separate legal trust governed by a local board of trustees, not the international union. However, the plan's benefit formulas and investment policy are influenced by the labor agreements negotiated between Local 104 and its contributing employers, many of whom operate through the SMACNA-negotiated national standard agreement.
What geographic footprint does the plan's real asset portfolio serve?
The plan concentrates its real estate and infrastructure exposure in the Western United States, with a particular density in the Bay Area, Central Valley, and greater Sacramento regions. Public record shows the plan holds an array of commercial and industrial training facilities — union halls in San Francisco and Fresno, training centers in San Jose, Fairfield, Vallejo, and San Leandro — but the investment portfolio itself extends beyond these self-managed properties into third-party managed private real estate funds (per public record).
Is the Sheet Metal Workers' Pension Plan covered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation?
Yes, as a multiemployer defined-benefit plan, it falls under the PBGC's multiemployer insurance program. That program operates on a different funding model and benefit-guarantee schedule than the single-employer program. If the plan were to experience a mass withdrawal of contributing employers, the remaining contractors would absorb the liability under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's joint-and-several rules — a risk that materially shapes the plan's risk tolerance and liquidity modeling.
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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