With interest rates low and the corporate desire to reduce liabilities high, pension de-risking transfers continue at a rapid pace. While Verizon was one of the first, since 2012 many companies including GM, J.C. Penney, United Technologies, PPG Industries and Lincoln Electric have de-risked by transferring their pension liabilities to an insurance company. These pension […]
In January of 2017, ProtectSeniors.org worked with Senator Carlo Leone to introduce a new bill providing expanded protections for retirees affected by pension de-risking transfers. In January, 2017 Senator Leone introduced Proposed Bill 493 and a public hearing was held on February 16th. The Joint Committee on Insurance and Real Estate voted 16-5 in favor […]
Edward Stone, as special counsel to ProtectSeniors.org provided testimony at a Public Hearing in Hartford, Connecticut on February 16, 2017 in support of Proposed Bill No. 493 “AN ACT CONCERNING THE PURCHASE OF AN ANNUITY TO FUND PENSION AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS”. Jack Cohen, Chairman of the Association of Bell-Tel Retirees, Inc. and Bill Jones, Co-founder and […]
Connecticut State Senator Carlo Leone (D – 27) has introduced Proposed Bill No. 493 “AN ACT CONCERNING THE PURCHASE OF AN ANNUITY TO FUND PENSION AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS”. This proposed bill requires an insurance company to provide certain annual disclosures to employees and retirees impacted by pension de-risking transfers involving the purchase of a group annuity […]
The pension de-risking trend continues. Farmington, Connecticut based United Technologies Corp. (UTC) will transfer $775 million of its outstanding pension benefit obligations under two of its retirement plans to The Prudential Insurance Company of America. HartfordBusiness.com, a publication of The Hartford Business Journal quoted Robin Diamonte, UTC’s chief investment officer as saying “This transaction is […]
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 […]
On Thursday, March 3, 2016 the Insurance and Real Estate Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly will hold a public hearing on proposed legislation regarding protections for retirees in pension derisking transfers. The hearing will be held at 1:00 p.m. in the Legislative Office Building at 300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106. The full text […]
ProtectSeniors.org has done it again! Raised Bill No. 5455 entitled “An Act Concerning the Purchase of An Annuity to Fund Pension Benefits” has been introduced in the Connecticut legislature. The proposed legislation requires disclosures to retirees impacted by pension derisking transfers and limits subsequent transfers of the annuity contract to “an entity that maintains a rating […]
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 […]
An excellent op-ed was published by Fort Worth’s Star-Telegram in late October, written by C. William Jones, the Chairman of ProtectSeniors.org. The piece focused on the pension de-risking crisis facing today’s retirees. Plano, Texas based J.C. Penney was the latest company to join the de-risking bandwagon, offering both lump-sum buyouts and transferring it pension obligations to […]
© Edward S. Stone 2014-2022.
