Pension de-risking annuity purchase by Lincoln Electric

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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 advantages to plan sponsors, de-risking comes at a cost to retirees, who lose ERISA and PBGC protections. Hopefully, the state of Ohio will follow Connecticut’s lead and pass legislation at the state level to protect retirees and their families from risks associated with pension de-risking.