America's pension system is already facing many challenges whether we are discussing private, public, and/or multiemployer plans. The issues may vary depending on the type of plan, but the one thing that they have in common is their participation in...

I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday despite the many impediments that we are facing this year. It is still my favorite holiday, and I might actually be hungry by Friday! I came across a comment in a...

For years I've written about the importance of conducting asset allocation studies based on the plan's specific liabilities and cash flow needs, as liabilities are like snowflakes in their uniqueness. I recently read an article in P&I that reported the...

The pension industry has its own version of the "which came first: the chicken or the egg" riddle. For years, members of our community have debated whether the return on asset (ROA) assumption is set and then asset allocation is...

A recent article in PlanSponsor highlighted the fact that Pension Risk Transfers (PRT) have impacted the premium income collected by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). During the 2015-2018 period, 8% of the companies insured by the PBGC transferred some...

I was very surprised (shocked) to read an article recently that described the Butch Lewis Act as a band aid. The pension crisis has been unfolding in our country for decades, and for various reasons it has hit multiemployer plans...

It has been reported that two more multiemployer pension systems - Arizona Bricklayers and the Michigan Carpenters - have filed for benefit relief under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA). This is the second application for the Carpenters...

Corporate America has been exiting from defined benefit plans for decades. There are many reasons why this trend exists, but one of the primary reasons cited often focuses on the excessive cost to insure these plans/participants with the PBGC. As...

Come on already! The multiemployer retirement crisis continues to worsen daily. When will we finally see action? Time for more review has long passed. Further delays are unacceptable. There certainly has been a lot of talk related to this evolving...

Participants in failing multiemployer pension plans have fought for years to have their benefits restored and pension reform legislation passed, and to this point those incredible efforts have mostly fallen on deaf ears. They have been close at times to...