# Stagehands Local Two Retirement Plan

Stagehands Local Two Retirement Plan is a Pension Fund based in Chicago, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Chicago, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Chicago, IL, United States
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** iatselocal2.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/stagehands-local-two-h&w-plan

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The plan was established to provide retirement coverage for members of IATSE Local 2 Chicago Stagehands, the union representing backstage workers across the city’s major theaters and event spaces. Employer contributions are sourced from a concentrated set of Chicago cultural institutions, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Navy Pier Inc., and production services firm PSAV, Inc. Governance rests with union-appointed trustees — President Michael Robinson, Business Agent Craig Carlson, and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Taylor — who oversee the plan’s operations and fiduciary obligations. All investment deployment follows a fund-of-funds mandate, investing in diversified external funds rather than direct company stakes. Specific underlying managers and portfolio weightings are not publicly disclosed. The strategy operates primarily within US markets, drawing from the plan’s single-employer, multi-venue contribution base in Illinois. Past Department of Labor reporting identified the plan as being in critical status, a designation that typically triggers funding improvement measures under the Pension Protection Act. Outside the retirement plan, union member resources point to endorsed service providers — including Alliant health plans and a sponsored estate-planning offering through the Entertainment Community Fund — but no top-tier club memberships or parallel co-investment vehicles are identified. The Local Two union itself operates a political action committee, the IATSE-PAC, and maintains a dedicated organizing program for stagehands. The plan’s structural distinction lies in its narrow contributor base: fewer than a half-dozen major Chicago venues supply the bulk of contributions, creating high concentration risk relative to larger multi-employer pension plans. There is no evidence of a separate asset-management arm or direct-investment program; successive publicly available filings show the fund-of-funds approach has remained consistent, with investment decisions filtered through the union’s trustee governance chain.

## Sectors

- Fund of Funds

## People

- Michael Robinson — President of IATSE Local 2 and Trustee
- Craig Carlson — Business Agent of IATSE Local 2 and Trustee
- Frank Taylor — Secretary-Treasurer of IATSE Local 2 and Trustee

## Questions

### Who is responsible for investment decisions at the Stagehands Local Two Retirement Plan?

The plan is governed by trustees who are also officers of IATSE Local 2 Chicago Stagehands: President Michael Robinson, Business Agent Craig Carlson, and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Taylor. They oversee the plan’s fiduciary and administrative operations. Specific investment committee structures are not publicly documented.

### What is the investment strategy of the plan?

The plan operates exclusively as a fund-of-funds, allocating capital to external investment managers rather than direct company, real estate, or infrastructure investments. The specific fund managers, asset class targets, and performance are not publicly disclosed.

### What is the relationship between the plan and the union, IATSE Local 2?

The Stagehands Local Two Retirement Plan is a pension plan established and governed by IATSE Local 2 Chicago Stagehands, the labor union for theatrical stage employees in Chicago. The union's officers serve as the plan’s trustees, and the union negotiates employer contributions that fund the plan.

### Which employers contribute to the retirement plan?

Publicly identified contributing employers include the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Navy Pier Inc., and production services firm PSAV, Inc. These four organizations represent a concentrated contributor base tied to Chicago’s performing-arts and event infrastructure.

## Related profiles

- [Staged Ventures](https://altss.com/profile/staged-ventures)
- [StageNext](https://altss.com/profile/stagenext)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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