Ball Corporation Transfers $176 million in Pension Liabilities

On November 1, 2018 the Ball Corporation of Broomfield, Colorado purchased a group annuity contract from an unnamed insurance company to transfer around $176 million in pension liabilities. The packing company, founded in 1880 and famous for its early production of glass jars, did not divulge the name of the insurance company or the number […]

Materion Corp. Transfers $111 million in U.S. Pension Liability

Mayfield Heights, Ohio material products and tech company, Materion Corporation, made a group annuity purchase on November 6, 2018 to transfer about $111 million of their U.S. pension liabilities. The transfer to Mutual of American Life Insurance Company will affect roughly 1,150 retirees and represents 43.4% of Materion’s $256 million in pension liabilities. Materion expects to […]

Tennessee Paper Giant Transfers over $1 billion in Pension Liabilities

International Paper Co., purchased a group annuity contract from Prudential Insurance Company on October 1, 2018 to transfer about $1.6 billion in U.S. pension liabilities. Some 23,000 retirees, all of whom receive less than $1,000 in benefits each month, will be affected by the transfer. This is the third transfer of pension liabilities in three […]

Devon Energy Derisks with Group Annuity Purchase

Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Devon Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 company and among the largest U.S. based independent producers of natural gas and oil. Earlier this month, the company disclosed its purchase of a group annuity contract to transfer around $190 million in pension liabilities to an unnamed insurance company. The transfer represents roughly […]

Archer Daniels Midland Sheds $500 million in Pension Liabilities

The Archer Daniels Midland Company is an American global food processing and commodities trading corporation, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. On November 2, 2018 they transferred about $500 million in payments for 3,800 retirees to Prudential Insurance Co. of America. This is the first such transfer for the company whose pension plan assets total $2.448 billion, with projected benefit obligations of $3.109 billion and […]

AK Steel Corp. Transfers Millions in Pension Liabilities

On October 26, 2018, AK Steel Corporation of West Chester, Ohio, purchased a group annuity contract from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in a move that will affect about 5,400 retirees. The transaction will transfer some $280 million in pension liabilities. This is the third such de-risking transaction for AK Steel; the company purchased two other […]

Edward Stone – Cheddar.com Interview Sears Bankruptcy

Attorney Eddie Stone, Edward Stone Law founder and special counsel to ProtectSeniors.org was interviewed by Cheddar TV on October 19, 2018 regarding the Sears Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and its impact on the Sears pension plans.  The Sears pension plans are underfunded to the tune of $1.5 billion, and if the Sears bankruptcy moves from reorganization […]

Sears Bankruptcy Will Impact Retirees

Sears formally filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, October 15, 2018 in the Southern District of New York, after being unable to repay $134 million in loans.  According to media reports, Sears plans to close about 142 of its 700 stores by year end.  But the Sears bankruptcy filing could do more than just leave […]

Court Upholds Decision by Judge Brody in NFL Concussion Litigation

Judge Anita B. Brody’s “Explanation and Order” of December 8, 2017 concluding that  the anti-assignment language in the NFL Concussion Litigation Settlement Agreement “unambiguously prohibits” the class members from assigning their monetary awards rendering “any such purported assignment . . . void, invalid and of no force and effect” was adopted by Judge Loretta A. […]

Edward Stone – Guest Speaker at Association of BellTel Retirees 2018 Annual Meeting

Edward Stone, Special Counsel to ProtectSeniors.org was a guest speaker at the 2018 annual membership meeting of the Association of BellTel Retirees in Atlantic City, New Jersey on June 6, 2018.  Mr. Stone’s presentation on pension derisking offered retirees information on the status of state legislative initiatives in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, […]