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Western UNITE HERE & Employers Pension Plan
The Western UNITE HERE & Employers Pension Plan was formed on January 1, 2024, from the merger of five longtime UNITE HERE pension funds serving Southern...
Western UNITE HERE & Employers Pension Plan
The Western UNITE HERE & Employers Pension Plan was formed on January 1, 2024, from the merger of five longtime UNITE HERE pension funds serving Southern Nevada, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, and Seattle. Overseen by a Board of Trustees co-chaired by Union Trustee Mike Casey and Employer Trustee Virginia Valentine, the fund delivers defined-benefit pensions to a geographically broad base of unionized gaming, hospitality, restaurant, and food-service employees. The fund’s contributors — employers bound by union contracts — finance the plan under a defined-benefit model that guarantees lifetime monthly payments. While specific asset-class allocations are not disclosed, the plan’s professional consultants and managers invest across a diversified portfolio typical of multi-employer pension funds, including real estate, private credit, infrastructure, hedge funds, and other alternatives. The fund’s merger was explicitly structured to expand the contribution base and unlock administrative efficiencies, creating a larger pool better positioned to pursue institutional investment opportunities that were harder to access as five separate plans. The merged fund consolidates administration through third-party administrators — BeneSys handles the California units, Zenith American Solutions manages Southern Nevada, and Northwest Administrators runs the Washington/Oregon plan. Employer trustees include executives from regional hospitality groups, while union trustees represent UNITE HERE leadership. In January 2024, the fund completed the legal and operational merger of the five predecessor plans, establishing Las Vegas as the primary nexus for the consolidated vehicle. The plan is guaranteed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation up to federal statutory limits, but its structural differentiator is the consolidation of five fragmented west-coast union plans into a single multi-employer investment entity — a rare governance step that strengthens bargaining power and portfolio diversification without altering participant benefits.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
2024
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Las Vegas
Corporate office
Las Vegas, NV, United States
Additional offices
Sacramento, CA · San Diego, CA · San Francisco, CA · Seattle, WA
Principals
Mike Casey
Union Trustee, Chair
Virginia Valentine
Employer Trustee, Secretary
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Western UNITE HERE & Employers Pension Plan?
The plan employs professional investment consultants and managers who execute investment decisions on the board’s behalf. The board of trustees — split between union and employer representatives — sets overall investment policy, but the fund does not publicly name an internal CIO or specific investment committee members.
Why did the five UNITE HERE pension plans merge into one fund?
The merger was designed to create a larger, more geographically diverse contribution base, improving the plan’s ability to weather economic downturns. A consolidated pool also unlocks administrative efficiencies and grants access to investment opportunities that were less feasible for the predecessor plans individually. Participant benefits and vesting service from all five regions were preserved.
What type of pension plan is the Western UNITE HERE & Employers Pension Plan?
It is a defined-benefit pension plan funded entirely by employer contributions under union contracts. Participants receive a guaranteed monthly benefit for life once vested, and do not make any investment decisions — those are handled by professional managers retained by the fund.
How is the Western UNITE HERE Pension Plan protected against insolvency?
Benefits are backed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a federal agency that guarantees pension payments up to certain statutory limits. The merger also strengthens the plan’s financial resilience by diversifying contributing employers across gaming, hospitality, and food-service industries on the West Coast.
What industries do the participating employers come from?
Employers are primarily in the gaming, hospitality, restaurant, and food-service sectors along the West Coast, with heavy representation in Las Vegas, tribal gaming, and major California and Pacific Northwest metro areas. Contributions stem from union contracts with UNITE HERE affiliates.
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