Smart Local 265 Supplemental Retirement Savings Plan

Smart Local 265 Supplemental Retirement Savings Plan

The SMART Local No. 265 Supplemental Retirement Savings Plan was established in 1993 through a collective bargaining agreement between the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local No. 265 and the Sheet Metal Contractors Association of Illinois. The plan provides supplemental retirement security for sheet metal workers in the western Chicago suburbs, with its administrative offices in Carol Stream, Illinois. Originally structured as a defined benefit arrangement, the Trustees amended the plan in 1998 to operate as a defined contribution profit-sharing entity, shifting investment risk and reward to individual participant accounts. The plan allocates participant-directed and trustee-directed assets across a diversified portfolio. While its specific investment policy statement is not published, typical allocations for Taft-Hartley supplemental savings plans of this vintage include a mix of core and core-plus real estate funds, private credit vehicles targeting middle-market direct lending, and multi-strategy hedge fund exposures. The plan also likely maintains a liquidity sleeve through traditional fixed-income and public equity commingled funds. Geographic focus centers on US-based assets, with the potential for indirect European and Asian exposure through commingled fund commitments. The plan's Trustees govern investment decisions through a board that includes both union and employer-appointed representatives. The size of the plan's asset base is not publicly disclosed. Many supplemental retirement savings plans in the building trades manage between $50 million and $300 million, though no verifiable figure is available for this specific plan. The plan does not maintain a publicly known affiliated operating business or philanthropic foundation, and its structure adheres to ERISA guidelines with third-party custodial and recordkeeping services. What distinguishes the plan structurally is its 1998 conversion from a pooled defined benefit supplement to individualized profit-sharing accounts. This architecture means the plan does not manage a single commingled trust seeking actuarial return targets — instead, it provides an array of investment options to participants while Trustees retain fiduciary responsibility for monitoring and replacing underperforming managers. This dual governance layer, where investment menu construction is separated from participant-level asset allocation, is common among Taft-Hartley supplemental plans but differs materially from both public pension funds and single-family offices.