UNITE HERE

The fund is governed by a board of trustees split equally between union and employer representatives, as required under Taft-Hartley multi-employer plan rules. Day-to-day investment management is handled by internal staff and external managers selected by the trustees. The union's International President, Gwen Mills, exercises significant influence over the plan's strategic posture, particularly on shareholder advocacy and ESG integration in the hospitality sector.

The fund sources through a combination of traditional institutional RFP processes, direct relationships with general partners targeting labor-friendly limited partners, and a real estate acquisition strategy tied to union hall expansions. It also receives inbound co-investment opportunities filtered through the AFL-CIO's network of labor-affiliated institutional investors and through the Council of Institutional Investors (CII), where it maintains active membership.

The National Retirement Fund operates as a fund-of-funds allocator across private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds while also making direct co-investments alongside its GPs. Its direct investing is most visible in commercial real estate, where it holds offices used by its own union locals as well as income-producing properties. In private credit, it invests through CLOs and mezzanine structures rather than originating loans directly.

The fund adheres to a worker-capital framework where investment decisions consider employment practices, labor relations, and workplace standards at prospective portfolio companies. It files shareholder proposals through CII, engages in proxy voting campaigns against hospitality employers with labor disputes, and screens managers for alignment with union principles. This is not a simple negative screen — the fund has invested in real estate adjacent to its own organized hotels and casinos.

Amalgamated Bank was historically owned by UNITE HERE and served as a captive financial institution for the union's pension and operating funds. Majority ownership transferred to Workers United (SEIU) after a 2009 restructuring of UNITE HERE's garment division. Amalgamated Life Insurance continues to administer the National Retirement Fund's benefits, and the bank provides credit facilities for union strike funds — creating an ongoing operational relationship separate from ownership.

The National Retirement Fund was awarded Special Financial Assistance under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, as disclosed in PBGC records. These grants are structured as lump-sum infusions calculated to cover projected benefit payments through 2051 without requiring repayment. The grant effectively recapitalized the plan, moving it from critical-and-declining status in 2020 to full projected solvency, though the exact dollar amount received has not been separately broken out by the union.

The fund does not publish an exclusion list, but its investment patterns and union positions suggest de facto avoidance of companies under active organizing boycotts, firms involved in union decertification campaigns, and prison labor-linked enterprises. It has historically screened out private prison operators and has been publicly critical of hospitality REITs with high rates of wage-and-hour litigation, though no formal divestment policy is codified.