FirstEnergy Corp Does a Pension Risk Transfer Deal

FirstEnergy Corp. completed a pension risk transfer at the end of December 2023. The deal transferred the pensions of 2,200 retirees to Banner Life Insurance Co and Reinsurance Group of America (RGA). It was valued at $700 million. Banner Life Insurance is a subsidiary of Legal & General Retirement America (LGRA). Retirees impacted by the […]

Verizon transfers $5.9 billion in Pension Liabilities to Prudential and the Reinsurance Group of America

Verizon has completed another pension risk transfer deal, this time transferring $5.9 in pension liabilities to two companies: Prudential Financial Inc, and the Reinsurance Group of America (RGA). The deal affects 56,000 retirees. Each insurer will assume 50% of the obligation to most of the retirees affected. The deal reduces Verizon’s pension liabilities by over […]

Shell Transfers Pension Liabilities of 21,500 Retirees

Shell USA has transferred $4.9 billion worth of pension liabilities to Prudential. The deal transfers the liability of payments of pensions of 21,500 retirees. You can read Prudential’s press release on the deal here.

Don Kaufmann Explains the Dangers of Pension Risk Transfer

Don Kaufman, a director of The Association of BellTel Retirees (a strategic partner of Retirees for Justice), has contributed an excellent explanation of the dangers of pension risk transfer in Next Avenue. His perspective is unique – not only is Don a long-time leader of the Association of BellTel Retirees, he is also one of […]

MetLife Continues to Profit from Pension Risk Transfer

MetLife has concluded $1.8 billion in pension risk transfer deals so far this 4th quarter of 2023. This is in addition to $2 billion in the second quarter, and $1.5 billion in the third quarter.  It expects that its tally for pension de-risking transactions in 2023 will exceed $5 billion. Although these totals are somewhat […]

Pension Risk Transfer Volume Higher Than Ever in the Second Quarter of 2023

The total value of pension risk transfer (PRT) deals in the second quarter of 2023 was $16.2 billion. This is a 31% increase from the second quarter of last year, and the highest second quarter sales total to date. The first half of 2023 was also a record high first half year. Total value of […]

The Increase in Private Equity Interest in Insurers Continues

Increasing capital flowing from private equity into the insurance industry, particularly in the context of pension de-risking, was a hot topic at the recent ERISA Advisory Council meeting in Washington DC. Life Annuity Specialist captured some of the opposing viewpoints: Those in favor of private equity’s participation in de-risking argued that private equity assets supporting […]

Retirees for Justice Presents to the ERISA Advisory Council

Our Executive Director, Edward Stone, recently had the opportunity to testify before the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Advisory Council in Washington DC, on July 18th, 2023. He appeared on behalf of retirees from several retiree organizations, including Retirees for Justice Inc., the Association of DuPont Retirees Inc., the Association of BellTel Retirees, Inc., […]

Offshore Reinsurance: Is Self-Regulation the Answer?

When insurance companies reinsure obligations with offshore companies in locations such as Bermuda, US insurance regulators no longer have jurisdiction (or control) over these liabilities. They become the responsibility of foreign regulators. This is attractive for insurance companies – if a foreign country has very few insurance regulations, it is much easier (and cheaper) for […]

Pension Risk Transfer Market Continues to Grow

The pension risk transfer (PRT) market is continuing to grow at a rapid rate. Single premium pension risk transfers during the first quarter of 2023 were the highest they’ve ever been in a first quarter, according to LIMRA’s U.S Group Annuity Risk Transfer Survey. This is noteworthy because first quarter sales are usually much more […]