# Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 420 Pension Plan Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 420 Pension Plan is a Pension Fund based in Philadelphia, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Pension Fund - **Headquarters:** Philadelphia, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** 14420 Townsend Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19154, United States - **Founded:** 1989 - **Assets under management:** $600M–$700M (Altss estimate) - **Website:** lu420.com - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/ua-local-420 ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About The United Association of Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 420 Pension Plan was established in 1989 as a multiemployer defined-benefit plan covering eligible union members in the Philadelphia area. Jim Snell serves as Business Manager for the local, which operates out of a combined headquarters and training facility on Townsend Road. The plan is tied to the larger United Association international union and carries the legacy governance structure of a Taft-Hartley fund — jointly trusteed by union and contributing employer representatives from the Mechanical Contractors Association of Philadelphia. The plan's investment strategy deploys capital across a mix of public equities, fixed income, real estate, private credit, and hedge fund allocations, consistent with a medium-sized union pension fund seeking to meet actuarial return assumptions without excessive fee drag. Real estate holdings includes the union's own headquarters and training center, a common asset class among building-trades funds that often hold their own meeting halls as income-producing properties. Geographic focus centers on the Mid-Atlantic, particularly Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where the membership base lives and works. The plan's size — Altss estimates approximately $620 million — places it among the larger single-local pension funds nationally, though well below the multi-billion-dollar regional consolidations increasingly common in the Taft-Hartley space. Day-to-day administration falls to a small in-house team led by Financial Secretary-Treasurer Thomas F. Redden III and Funds Administrator James Rocks. The fund maintains close ties to the international United Association and the AFL-CIO, and partners with Rowan University on a Construction Management degree program for members and their families. Related vehicles include the Steamfitters Local Union 420 Welfare Fund and the UA Local 420 Scholarship Fund. In March 2024, the local celebrated the graduation of its latest apprentice class from the training center — an operational milestone that directly feeds the pipeline of contributing workers whose hours fund the pension. The fund's structural differentiator is its refusal to merge. At a time when dozens of smaller building-trades pension plans have consolidated into regional mega-funds to reduce administrative costs and pool investment clout, the Local 420 plan has preserved its independence. That means investment decisions stay inside a small room of trustees who understand Philadelphia commercial construction cycles intimately — and carry the personal obligation to explain shortfalls at the union hall bar. ## Sectors - Real Estate - Infrastructure - Private Credit - Hedge Funds - Secondaries & Special Situations ## People - Jim Snell — Business Manager - Thomas F. Redden III — Financial Secretary-Treasurer - James Rocks — Funds Administrator ## Questions ### Who sits on the board of trustees for Local 420's pension plan? The plan is jointly trusteed under the Taft-Hartley framework, with representatives appointed by both the United Association Local 420 union and contributing employers from the Mechanical Contractors Association of Philadelphia. Jim Snell, as Business Manager, and Thomas F. Redden III, as Financial Secretary-Treasurer, are key union-side figures. Employer-side trustees are drawn from signatory mechanical contracting firms in the Philadelphia area. ### What is the funded status of the Local 420 Pension Plan? The plan files Form 5500 annually with the Department of Labor, which discloses its funded ratio. As a multiemployer plan in the building trades, it falls into the 'green zone' or 'yellow zone' classification system under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act. The exact funded percentage is public record through EBSA filings but is not published directly on the local's website. ### How does Local 420's pension plan relate to the Steamfitters Welfare Fund and Scholarship Fund? The Steamfitters Local Union 420 Welfare Fund and UA Local 420 Scholarship Fund are separate legal entities serving the same membership base. The Pension Plan covers retirement benefits; the Welfare Fund covers active health and disability benefits; the Scholarship Fund provides educational grants. Each operates under its own board and trust agreement, though leadership overlaps significantly. ### What is the plan's assumed rate of return? The plan's actuarial assumed rate of return — a critical figure for determining contribution requirements and funded status — is disclosed in the annual Form 5500 and actuarial valuation report. Many Taft-Hartley plans in this size cohort assume between 6.5% and 7.5%, though the specific Local 420 assumption requires confirmation against the most recent public filing. ## Related profiles - [IUOE Local 478 A-C-D-E Pension Plan](https://altss.com/profile/international-union-of-operating-engineers-local-union-no-478-a-c-d-e-pension-plan) - [Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM)](https://altss.com/profile/association-of-manitoba-municipalities-amm) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/united-association-of-plumbers-steamfitters-local-420-pension-plan Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology