16.	Retirement Plans :

The Company’s retirement plans consist of two 401(k) plans covering certain non-union employees, two separate 401(k) plans covering all union employees, two profit sharing plans, a multi-employer pension plan covering certain CTI employees and a supplemental executive retirement plan (SERP) covering certain executive officers of the Company.

The 401(k) retirement plans allow eligible employees to contribute up to the statutory maximum. The Company’s non-union 401(k) matching contribution is determined annually by the Board of Directors and is based on a percentage of eligible employees’ earnings and contributions. For the non-union flat rolled segments’ 401(k) retirement plan, the Company matched one-half of each eligible employee’s contribution, limited to the first 6% of eligible compensation.

For the 401(k) retirement plan at our CTI locations, the Company matched one-half of each eligible employee’s first 3% of eligible compensation and 20% of the next 3% of eligible compensation.

All union employees now participate in the profit-sharing plan on a discretionary basis, like all non-union employees. Company contributions to the non-union profit-sharing plan are discretionary amounts as determined annually by the Board of Directors.

In 2005, the Board of Directors adopted the SERP. Contributions to the SERP are based on: (i) a portion of the participants’ compensation multiplied by 13%; and (ii) for certain participants a portion of the participants’ compensation multiplied by a factor which is contingent upon the Company’s return on invested capital. Benefits are subject to a vesting schedule of up to five years.

The Company, through its CTI subsidiary, contributes to one multiemployer pension plan – the Plumbing and Heating Wholesalers Retirement Income Plan for the Benefit of the Shopmen’s Division of Pipe Fitters’ Association Local Union 597, EIN 36-6511016, Plan Number 001 (the Multiemployer Plan). The risks of participating in the Multiemployer Plan are different from a single-employer plan in that 1) assets contributed to the multiemployer plan by one employer may be used to provide benefits to employees of other participating employers, 2) if a participating employer stops contributing to the plan, the unfunded obligations of the plan may be borne by the remaining participating employers, and 3) if CTI chooses to stop participating in the Multiemployer Plan, CTI may be required to pay the plan an amount based on the unfunded status of the plan, referred to as a withdrawal liability.

The most recent Pension Protection Act zone status available is for the plan year beginning January 1, 2015, and the Multiemployer Plan’s actuary has certified that the Multiemployer Plan is neither in critical status nor endangered status and that it is in the green zone. The green zone status is based on information that CTI received from the Multiemployer Plan and is certified by the Multiemployer Plan’s actuary. Among other factors, plans in the green zone are at least 80 percent funded.

CTI contributes to the Multiemployer Plan under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that covers certain of its union employees, and which expires May 31, 2020. CTI contributions to the Multiemployer Plan were immaterial for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014.

Retirement plan expense, which includes all Company 401(k), profit-sharing, SERP defined contributions and the Multiemployer Plan, amounted to $2.0 million, $2.2 million and $2.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

The fair values of the Company’s SERP assets as of December 31, 2015 are as follows:

	Quoted Prices in Active Markets		Observable Inputs		Unobservable Inputs
(in thousands)	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Equity securities	$	1,590	$	-	$	-
Money market funds		-		25		-
Fixed income		-		213		-
Mutual funds		-		5,391		-
Total	$	1,590	$	5,629	$	-