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President, AFL-CIO
With another year of successful real estate investment activity behind it, the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust
continues to be a source of pride for working men and women who value the retirement security generated by its prudent investment strategy and the thousands of familysupporting union jobs generated by its investments. The importance of these benefits has never been greater, given the needs of America’s working families and pension beneficiaries in today’s challenging economic climate.
Before the BIT was created by the AFL-CIO 20 years ago, union pension plans had few opportunities to make prudent investments in real estate. In the years since then,
the BIT has evolved as a premier real estate fund, more than fulfilling its founders’ goals as a sound investment vehicle. Investors’ confidence in the BIT is reflected in its continuing growth. The Trust’s assets have doubled in the
past five years, and its expanding base of 162 investors represents an ever-broadening share of the unionized workforce, including growing participation from the public sector. The $144 million in net cash investments from participants in 2007 exceeded the totals of any prior year in the fund’s history.
While investors are attracted to the BIT’s competitive risk-adjusted returns, its exemplary labor policies also provide a reason for the strong investor interest in the BIT. Investors can take satisfaction in knowing their assets have
been put to work to generate thousands of familysupporting jobs in new construction, rehabilitation, or maintenance and operation of BIT properties. The two newest BIT development projects alone are expected to create 2,150 union construction jobs.
Rooted in the union movement and dedicated to achieving financial security for working people and retirees, the BIT continues to achieve the kinds of results union members have come to expect from an investment program that bears the name of the AFL-CIO, and it deserves our continued support.
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