< The 2015 Pension 40: The Long Climb

As president of the 1.6 million-member American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, 58, is among the most vocal supporters of defined benefit pensions, asserting that, among other positives, they spur economic development. Every dollar paid for pension benefits generates $2.25 in output, she notes. Since 2011 the AFT has partnered with other unions and the Clinton Global Initiative to invest in U.S. infrastructure. In early November the AFT launched an advertising campaign touting public pension plan investment — through a consortium, LaGuardia Gateway Partners, that includes the California State Teachers' Retirement System — in the $3.6 billion overhaul of New York’s LaGuardia Airport. “When the economy rebounds, more people should be able to take part in the American dream,” says Weingarten, who majored in labor relations at Cornell University and graduated from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law before working as a labor attorney and a high school history teacher in New York. “Part of this means getting good returns, fixing our crumbling roads and bridges, and creating good jobs.” Though AFT favors infrastructure, another investment doesn’t sit well with its president: hedge funds. “Not all hedge funds are bad,” she says. “But some are trying to kill the same plans that are investing in them.” Weingarten wants hedge fund managers seeking capital from pension plans to disclose any affiliations with organizations actively working to phase out defined benefit plans. In a recent report, the AFT spotlighted hedge fund managers’ links to organizations such as the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and StudentsFirst, a lobbying organization for charter schools.

 
The 2015 Pension 40

1. Bruce Rauner Illinois 2. John & Laura Arnold Laura and John Arnold Foundation Podcast: Uncovering Opportunities in Direct Real Estate Sponsored by Fidelity Investments June 30, 2025 3. Chris Christie New Jersey 4. Randi Weingarten AmericanFederation of Teachers 5. Phyllis Borzi U.S. Department of Labor

6. Kevin de León California 7. Alejandro García Padilla Commonwealth ofPuerto Rico 8. Laurence Fink BlackRock 9. Rahm Emanuel Chicago 10. Sean McGarvey North AmericanBuilding Trades Unions

11. John Kline Minnesota 12. J. Mark Iwry U.S. Treasury Department 13. Damon Silvers AFL-CIO 14. Jeffrey Immelt General Electric Co. 15. Joshua Gotbaum Brookings Institution

16. Robin Diamonte United Technologies Corp. 17. Mark Mullet Washington 18. Terry O'Sullivan Laborers' International Union of North America 19. Raymond Dalio Bridgewater Associates 20. Ted Wheeler Oregon

21. Thomas Nyhan Central States Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund 22. Karen Ferguson & Karen Friedman Pensions Rights Center 23. Randy DeFrehn National Coordinating Committee forMultiemployer Plans 24. Robert O'Keef Motorola Solutions 25. Caitlin Long Morgan Stanley

26. Kenneth Feinberg The Law Offices of Kenneth R. Feinberg 27. Orrin Hatch Utah 28. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend Center for Retirement Initiatives, Georgetown University 29. Ian Lanoff Groom Law Group 30. Joshua Rauh Stanford Graduate School of Business

31. Ted Eliopoulos California Public Employees' Retirement System 32. Edward (Ted) Siedle Benchmark Financial Services 33. Teresa Ghilarducci New School for Social Research 34. Denise Nappier Connecticut 35. W. Thomas Reeder Jr. Pension BenefitGuaranty Corp.

36. Hank Kim National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems 37. Paul Singer Elliott Management Corp. 38. Bailey Childers National PublicPension Coalition 39. Amy Kessler Prudential Financial 40. Judy Mares U.S. Labor Department