President Biden Signs Laws to Assist Retirees

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed an omnibus spending act known as the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023”  which included the Secure Act 2.0, and which contains two provisions which assist retirees impacted by pension risk transfer (PRT) deals. The first provision relates to improved transparency of information for retirees. Section 319 directs the Treasury […]

Pension Risk Transfer Facts for 2022

You may be wondering how the market for Pension Risk Transfers fared in 2022. As a final wrap up post for 2022, here are some stats to help you answer that question. A pension “buy-out” transaction transfers all liability to retirees and beneficiaries from the plan sponsor to the insurance company through the purchase of […]

Rolls-Royce North America Transfers $145 Million in Pensions to Legal and General

On Thursday, Dec 1, 2022, Rolls-Royce North America announced that in July this year, it closed on a PRT deal to transfer $145 million in pensions to Legal & General Retirement America.  Rolls-Royce described the transaction as beneficial to pension holders because it provided further security to them. The deal affected 1200 retirees. Read more […]

LIMRA reports record-setting increases in the PRT market in third quarter of 2022

There is no doubt that the PRT market is growing fast. LIMRA’s U.S. Group Annuity Risk Transfer Sales Survey shows it. Total buy-out sales – that is, PRT deals in which pension liabilities are fully transferred to an insurer – reached $41 billion by November 30, 2022. This is 89% higher than the same time […]

Various Factors Make PRT Deals More Likely in 2023

An analysis for Chief Investment Officer by Andrea Riquier suggests that investment strategies in 2023 will include a greater number of PRT deals. This is because of the complex interaction of factors including the recent increase in interest rates. In March 2021 when the American Rescue Plan Act provided relief to corporate employers struggling with […]

Retirees for Justice Writes to Senators

After Senators Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren showed clear concern for the interests of retirees in their comments in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on September 8, 2022, we decided to write to both senators expressing our support for their comments. We also offered to meet with them so we could […]

Why the Boom in Pension Transfers to Insurers Has Some Worried

Slowly, we are beginning to see increased attention questioning whether pension risk transfer (“PRT”) deals are in the best interests of retirees. On October 7, 2022, Life Annuity Specialist published an article asking this very question: “Why the Boom in Pension Transfers to Insurers Has Some Worried”.  There are several different issues which should raise […]

Many Reasons for Retirees to Worry

Our Executive Director, Edward Stone has written and published an OpEd with Thomas Steed, the Chairman of the Association of BellTel Retirees: 220 billion Reasons for retirees to worry. This is their call to action: “Tens of millions of …retirees already provided time and labor to former employers, over decades-long careers, that we can’t take […]

IBM Transfers Responsibility for Pensions of 100,000 Retirees to Prudential and Metlife

International Business Machines Corporation, more commonly known as IBM, has transferred $16 billion worth of its defined benefit pension plans obligations to insurers Prudential and Metlife. The transaction impacts approximately 100,000 retirees and is one of the largest pension risk transfer deals done in the United States in the past decade. Read more about it […]

Senators Question Federal Insurance Office About Pension Risk Transfers

On September 8, 2022, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing on Current Issues in Insurance. Mr. Steven Seitz, Director of the Federal Insurance Office, testified at the hearing. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown asked Mr. Seitz especially incisive questions on the effects of pension risk transfer deals […]