Although little noticed in mainstream investment discussions, union-friendly, alternative investment funds currently operate in nearly every asset category in the United States. This chapter profiles may of these vehicles to show how their strategies have delivered both conventional financial success and a range of collateral benefits such as job creation, pension fund health, and economic development. They do so, moreover, while delivering very competitive returns to their investors. Pension fund trustees can thus invest in an array of alternative vehicles that satisfy both the social commitments and practical retirement concerns of their members.

An informal survey of Taft-Hartley investment managers indicates that labor-sensitive alternative investing has more than tripled since 1994 with respect to both assets under management and the number of such funds in operation. The 17 investment vehicles described in section III below report total assets in excess of $18 billion, nearly all of which has been invested by multi-employer pension plans jointly-trusteed by affiliates of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).[1]