PPG Industries, a Fortune 200 global manufacturer of paints, coatings and optical products has entered into agreements with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company to provide annuity benefits to 13,400 retirees removed from PPG’s defined benefit pension plans. In what appear to be annuity “lift-out’s” PPG has purchased group annuity contracts […]
New Hampshire has increased guaranty association coverage for annuity contracts from $100,000 to $250,000. While this is still $250,000 less than the coverage offered by New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Washington, it puts New Hampshire in line with the coverage offered by thirty-seven other states. This increase in coverage is very important to retirees […]
Today, J.C. Penney announced that it would continue its pension de-risking efforts by purchasing a group annuity contract from The Prudential Insurance Company of America. While exact numbers of retirees affected and the terms of the agreement have yet to be released, it appears that this pension de-risking transfer is an annuity “lift-out” and the […]
Companies continue to de-risk their pension plans at a rapid pace. J.C. Penney Co., based in Plano, Texas offered 31,000 retirees a lump sum buyout offer which expires today. This offer follows an earlier lump sum buyout offer in 2012 that 25,000 retirees elected to take. While the I.R.S. restricted lump sum buyouts with new regulations […]
As the last of the Executive Life cases seem to be winding their way through the court system, the U.S. government escaped liability in Nutt et al v. United States, No. 14-CV-282, 2015 WL 3525191 (Fed. Cl. June 4, 2015) for a contract it purchased in settlement of a wrongful death claim in 1983, where a […]
Plaintiffs’ have filed a petition for re-hearing with the 5th Circuit in Lee v. Verizon Communs., Inc., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 14588 (5th Cir. Tex. Aug. 17, 2015), asking that the court re-visit its decision and preserving their right to appeal. Hopefully the 5th Circuit will realize that the risks associated with kicking retirees to […]
The most recent company to jump on the pension de-risking bandwagon is Lincoln Electric Company who announced that it was de-risking over $900 million in pension obligations to 1900 retirees by transferring its pension obligations to The Principal Financial Group by purchasing a group annuity contract to cover those pension obligations. While pension de-risking offers […]
In Lee v. Verizon Communs., Inc., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 14588 (5th Cir. Tex. Aug. 17, 2015), a case closely watched by defined benefit plan (DBP) sponsors, the insurance industry, and ProtectSeniors.org, a retiree advocacy group, a three judge panel rejected the plaintiffs’ challenges to Verizon’s decision to de-risk its pension obligations by removing over 41,000 retirees from […]
In July 2015, the IRS announced new regulations (Notice 2015-49) limiting a company’s ability to de-risk its pension liabilities by making lump sum distributions to participants in pay status. While lump-sum payments may be a cost effective way of de-risking pension obligations, they may not be the best thing for retirees. Taking away the lump sum option from the defined benefits […]
Lawmakers in Connecticut have passed de-risking legislation that has been sent on to Governor Dannel Malloy for signature. Stone is quoted as saying “This bill is an important step in the right direction for retirees.” See “De-Risking Bill Sent to Connecticut Governor; N.Y. Measure Stalled in Insurance Committee”, by Sean Forbes. Reproduced with permission from BNA Pension & […]
© Edward S. Stone 2014-2022.
