Tri-State Carpenters and Joiners Pension Trust Fund

The plan was certified in endangered status as of its 2020 actuarial valuation, requiring a Funding Improvement Plan under the Pension Protection Act. Endangered status applies when a plan's funded percentage is less than 80 percent and it has a funding shortfall. The plan has not publicly disclosed a restoration to green-zone status, and its rehabilitation timeline remains a central due-diligence item for any counterparty evaluating long-term covenant reliability.

Southern Benefit Administrators, Inc. serves as the third-party administrator, with Doug Irwin acting as Plan Administrator. Ultimate fiduciary authority rests with the board of trustees, which is jointly appointed by the participating union — the Mid-South Carpenters Regional Council — and contributing employers. Investment consultants and OCIO relationships, if any, have not been publicly disclosed.

Public records and Altss research indicate the fund allocates across corporate bonds for core fixed-income exposure, real estate through vehicles including the ASB Allegiance Real Estate Fund, secondaries and special situations for opportunistic returns, and timber as a real-asset diversifier. The mix reflects a liability-driven approach with satellite allocations to higher-returning, less-liquid strategies.

A known real estate holding is a position in the ASB Allegiance Real Estate Fund, an open-end core industrial fund that acquires and operates logistics and distribution properties in major North American markets. This allocation provides the plan with institutional-quality real estate exposure with quarterly liquidity and a stabilized income component that supports its benefit-payment obligations.

Yes. In March 2024, a plan participant named Frank L. Canerday, Jr. filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee alleging benefit miscalculations and breach of fiduciary duty by the pension board. This litigation is ongoing and represents a contingent liability that prospective counterparties should diligence.

Endangered status under the Pension Protection Act imposes statutory rehabilitation requirements, including a Funding Improvement Plan that mandates benefit adjustments, contribution increases, or both. These constraints compress the plan's risk budget: the portfolio must generate returns above its assumed actuarial rate while preserving sufficient liquidity to meet current and near-term benefit payments. The resulting posture favors income-producing assets and managers with demonstrable downside protection.

Contributing employers include construction and industrial services firms bound by collective bargaining agreements with the Mid-South Carpenters Regional Council. Known participating employers include Shimmick Corporation, a heavy-civil construction contractor, and Williams Industrial Services Group, which provides maintenance and modification services to power generation and industrial facilities. The contribution base is tied to union hours worked within the fund's geographic jurisdiction.