UA Local 234

UA Local 234

UA Local 234's pension plan was established in 1963 to serve plumbers, pipefitters, and HVAC service technicians represented by the Jacksonville-based union local. The defined-benefit plan covers eligible members of United Association Local Union No. 234, with third-party administration handled by Southern Benefit Administrators, Inc. out of Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The plan is non-contributory on the employee side, funded entirely through employer contributions negotiated in collective bargaining agreements with signatory contractors — a structure typical of Taft-Hartley multiemployer plans in the construction trades. The portfolio is allocated across a broad blend of private-market strategies, including buyout, venture capital from seed-stage to late-stage, fund-of-funds, natural resources, and secondaries. The plan maintains relationships with major Jacksonville-area signatory contractors — W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor, Inc. and Miller Electric Company both appear as business partners — while Ronald Andrews, the union's Business Manager, acts as the primary liaison for the plan. Geographic exposure is anchored in Florida, particularly around the Jacksonville metropolitan area, where the local's 5411 Cassidy Road union hall sits, but the investment portfolio reaches nationally through commingled fund commitments. At an estimated $246 million in assets, the plan is modest by institutional standards but operates with the full toolkit of a larger allocator: direct co-investments alongside external managers, secondary purchases, and fund commitments across early and late-stage venture. The union also maintains a philanthropic vehicle, the Randal Gardner Scholarship Fund, which provides educational grants to members and their families — a common feature among building-trades locals that keeps the plan's charitable spending walled off from pension assets. Industry affiliations include the Northeast Florida Builders Association and JAXUSA Partnership, which connect the plan to regional workforce development and apprenticeship pipelines. The plan's structure creates genuine differentiation — not through scale, but through governance. As a Taft-Hartley plan, the board of trustees is evenly split between union and employer representatives. That joint oversight, plus the non-contributory funding model, means the plan's risk posture must satisfy both labor and management fiduciaries, making capital preservation and predictable cash-flow generation the dominant constraints on portfolio construction.