# Upper Peninsula Plumbers & Pipefitters Pension Plan Upper Peninsula Plumbers & Pipefitters Pension Plan is a Pension Fund based in Greendale, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Pension Fund - **Headquarters:** Greendale, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Greendale, MI, United States - **Assets under management:** $25M–$100M (Altss estimate) - **Website:** upplumbpipebenefits.org ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About The Upper Peninsula Plumbers & Pipefitters Pension Plan covers the retirement benefits of UA Local 111 members — plumbers, pipefitters, and HVAC/R technicians working across Michigan's remote Upper Peninsula. The plan is a multiemployer Taft-Hartley fund, meaning contributions come from a group of union-signatory contractors rather than a single employer. It has been administered by TIC International Corporation, an Indiana-based third-party administrator and fiduciary serving building-trades pensions. The fund's federal filings have repeatedly shown it in 'critical and endangered' status — a statutory designation under the Pension Protection Act signaling severe underfunding relative to vested liabilities. The plan's investment strategy is deliberately concentrated. Public record and Department of Labor filings indicate a portfolio anchored by a significant allocation to PRISA, the Prudential-managed open-end core real estate fund, alongside a meaningful mezzanine debt program. This dual-track approach — income-oriented commercial real estate plus private credit — is typical for small pensions seeking yield to close funding gaps without the governance overhead of running direct private equity. Mezzanine investments are reportedly directed through TIC International's relationships with alternative managers, though specific fund names beyond PRISA have not been publicly disclosed. Geographic exposure skews domestic, consistent with the plan's Upper Peninsula beneficiary base and the national footprint of PRISA's property portfolio. The plan operates from a single administrative office in Greendale, Michigan, serving the roughly fewer than 1,000 active and retired participants typical of a small local-union pension. TIC International's James Schreiber functions as the primary administrative manager, coordinating with UA Local 111's business agent Scott Pendergraft on contribution collections and benefit distributions. The plan maintains an affiliation with the Upper Peninsula Construction Council, a regional trade body that promotes union construction and runs apprentice recognition programs — a community tie that reinforces the pension's identity as a local institution, not a detached financial vehicle. In recent years, the plan has continued operating under a rehabilitation plan as required by its critical-and-endangered status, aimed at restoring solvency over time. Structurally, this plan differs from corporate or public pensions in its mandatory reliance on actuarial rehabilitation and statutory benefit restrictions. Under MPRA, critically underfunded multiemployer plans can apply to Treasury to suspend benefits — a last-resort lever that reshapes governance. The plan's small asset base and narrow contributing employer pool give it limited bargaining power with investment managers, making TIC International's fiduciary role the defining architectural feature. ## Sectors - Real Estate - Private Credit ## People - James E. Schreiber — Administrative Manager at TIC International Corporation - Scott Pendergraft — Business Agent and Dispatcher for UA Local 111 ## Questions ### Who runs investment decisions for the Upper Peninsula Plumbers & Pipefitters Pension Plan? Investment decisions are overseen by a board of trustees — half union, half employer representatives — as required for all Taft-Hartley plans. Day-to-day fiduciary and administrative management is delegated to TIC International Corporation under James Schreiber. TIC acts as a third-party administrator, selecting and monitoring outside investment managers including Prudential Real Estate Investors for the plan's core real estate allocation. ### What is the plan's current funding status? The plan has been classified in 'critical and endangered' status — sometimes called 'red zone' — for multiple years under the Pension Protection Act of 2006. This designation means the plan's funding ratio is below 65% or it faces a liquidity shortfall within five years. A rehabilitation plan imposing benefit restrictions and contribution surcharges has been in effect, and the plan is required to make annual progress toward exiting critical status. ### How is this plan connected to the United Association? The plan covers members of UA Local 111, a chapter of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry. Local 111 handles the collective bargaining side — wages, working conditions, apprenticeship — while the pension plan is a separate legal trust governed jointly by union and employer trustees. Contributions flow from signatory contractors into the pension trust, not directly into the union. ### Who contributes to this pension plan? Contributions come from mechanical contractors in Michigan's Upper Peninsula who have collective bargaining agreements with UA Local 111. Each participating employer remits contributions to the pension trust based on hours worked by union members. The employer base is limited — typical for a geographically isolated, single-trade local — which is a structural contributor to the plan's funding stress, as a shrinking or consolidating contractor pool can undermine the contribution base. ## Related profiles - [Robert Driscoll & Julia Driscoll](https://altss.com/profile/robert-driscoll-and-julia-driscoll) - [Williams, Kastner & Gibbs PLLC Retirement Plan](https://altss.com/profile/williams-kastner-and-gibbs-pllc-retirement-plan) --- Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/upper-peninsula-plumbers-and-pipefitters-pension-plan Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology