"PBGC announced that it intends ... to allow DB sponsors to make contributions through January 1, 2021, that may be counted as plan assets for purposes of the 2020 variable-rate premium calculation. With respect to contributions made after October 15, 2020, this will generally require an amended premium filing and a refund of any premium overpayment.... [IRS Notice 2020-61] generally requires an amendment to the Form 5500 for post-filing contributions that are counted as contributions for that plan year."

"The effects of the pandemic on the economy, on workforce patterns, and on plan sponsors’ budgets are likely to be far more financially significant to most pension plans, at least in the near term, than the effect on mortality. There is expected to be wide variance among the plans themselves, regardless of whether they are private sector, multiemployer, or public plans."

"The Teamsters' Building Material Drivers Local 436 Pension Fund of Valley View, Ohio, has applied to the Treasury Department for a reduction in benefits under [MPRA]. The pension's trustees say that without the cuts, the fund will run of money to pay benefits by 2023. Under the ... proposed reduction plan, the benefits of all plan participants would be reduced to 110% of the [PBGC] guarantee, which is the maximum reduction in benefits allowable by law."

"[F]or premium filings due on or after March 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2021, the date by which 'prior year' contributions must be received by the plan to be included in plan assets will be extended to January 1, 2021. That means the discounted value of these contributions received by the plan after the premium is filed but on or before January 1, 2021, will be included in the asset value used to determine the variable-rate premium. Because of this relief, plans will be able to amend the premium filing to revise the originally reported asset value once all prior year contributions have been made and receive the corresponding refund of variable-rate premiums.' [PBGC notes that "This press release (PBGC PR 20-04) revises guidance issued July 20, 2020, COVID-19-Related Single-Employer Plan Sponsors and Administrators Questions and Answers (PBGC Web 016)."]

"Year-to-Date annuity purchase prices have been volatile and are currently higher for both Annuity Plan 1 and Annuity Plan 2. Annuity purchase prices relative to GAAP PBO liabilities have also been volatile but are currently in line with historical expectations. This past month annuity purchase prices dropped 1.16% for Annuity Plan 1 and 4.53% for Annuity Plan 2."

"As of June 30, 2020, ... a hypothetical retiree buy-out transaction may cost 97.7% of the plan's accounting obligations. Additionally, the Index estimates the long-term costs of maintaining these pension liabilities to be 105.2%, which reflects costs ... such as PBGC premiums, investment management and administration fees, and the risk associated with fixed income defaults and downgrades. This demonstrates potential economic savings from a buyout of 7.5% compared to holding liabilities for the long term."

"The CARES Act [allows] employers to defer the required minimum contributions to defined benefit plans for 2020 until January 1, 2021.... If an M&A target has taken advantage of these CARES Act provisions, buyers should consider whether any warranties and representations should mandate that all taxes and requisite contributions to qualified plans have been paid since deferrals can stretch into 2022."

"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates used under Section 417(e)(3), and the 24-month average segment rates under Section 430(h)(2) ... In addition, this notice provides guidance as to the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities under Section 417(e)(3)(A)(ii)(II) as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate under Section 431(c)(6)(E)(ii)(I)."

"Although organizing public pension plans into groups can be helpful, the value of such a grouping effort lies in the reliability and integrity of the metrics that form the basis of the classification system.... Although the actuarial funded ratio is the most popular and recognized metric of a pension plan's condition, this metric, by itself, is not a reliable indicator. Gauging the condition of a pension plan by its funding ratio alone is akin to assessing a person's health solely by their heart rate, when, in fact, multiple other factors should also be considered."

49 pages. "This report provides 10-year projections, ending with FY 2029, of the financial status of both programs under a range of future financial scenarios. While last year's report projected PBGC's Multiemployer Program would become insolvent during FY 2025, this year's projections show a very high likelihood of insolvency during FY 2026 and that insolvency is a near certainty by the end of FY 2027.... Results for this year's projections show PBGC's Single-Employer Program is likely to remain out of deficit over the next decade."

34 pages. "Solutions can have more staying power and impact if they address underlying, structural fiscal issues and tackle imprudent approaches to allocate state and local government revenues, including pension contributions. This paper describes alternative approaches that public pension systems and their government relations teams should consider, understand, and bring up in discussions, debates, and negotiations."

"Announcement 2020-17 ... postpones until January 15, 2021, the deadline for reporting and paying excises taxes related to unpaid minimum required contributions (MRCs) to single-employer defined benefit plans.... Under the CARES Act, the deadline for making MRCs, including quarterly contributions, for single-employer defined benefit plans during the 2020 calendar year is postponed to January 1, 2021 "

"As a result of the extension of the due date for making a minimum required contribution under Section 3608(a) of the CARES Act, if an employer that is a calendar year taxpayer maintains a single employer defined benefit plan that is subject to Section 430 with a calendar year plan year fails to pay the minimum required contribution for the 2019 plan year by the extended due date of January 1, 2021, then there would be an unpaid minimum required contribution for the 2019 plan year and the employer would become subject to the excise tax under Section 4971(a). Similarly, if the employer fails to pay a required installment under Section 430(j)(3) to satisfy a liquidity shortfall by the delayed due date of January 1, 2021, the excise tax under Section 4971(f) would apply. However, absent the relief provided in this announcement, the due date for the employer's reporting and payment obligations for the excise taxes with respect to these unpaid contributions would be September 15, 2020.

"In order to coordinate the due date for reporting and paying the Sections 4971(a)(1) and 4971(f)(1) excise taxes with the extended due date for paying the minimum required contributions to which those excise taxes apply (January 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 3608(a) of the CARES Act), the Treasury Department and the IRS are postponing the reporting and payment due date for those taxes. The new due date for reporting and paying the Sections 4971(a)(1) and 4971(f)(1) excise taxes with respect to a minimum required contribution to which Section 3608(a) of the CARES Act applies is January 15, 2021.

"This announcement overrides the due date provided on Form 5330 and under the Form 5330 instructions for reporting and paying the excise taxes under Sections 4971(a)(1) and 4971(f)(1) with respect to a minimum required contribution to which Section 3608(a) of the CARES Act applies. This announcement does not apply to the due dates for other excise taxes required to be reported on Form 5330."

"[Notice 2020-61] answers questions concerning the special funding and benefit limitation rules for single-employer defined benefit pension plans under Section 3608 of the CARES Act.... [No] minimum required contributions under IRC Section 430(j) that would be due in 2020 must be paid until January 1, 2021.... The effects of the funding relief must be considered for each reporting purpose individually and to the extent that changes to reporting for one purpose may affect reporting for another purpose."

"Pension unfunded liabilities are usually quoted without reference to the size of the economy supporting those promises. The ratio of the UAL to the state GDP can give a good relative feel for how indebted each state is for their pensions."

"The NISA Pension Surplus Risk index rose 0.6 percentage points in August to 7.5% due to an increase in both the interest rate and return-seeking asset volatility. The average plan funded status increased by 3.3 percentage points, to 87.3% in August from 84% in July.... The Pension Surplus Risk index, or PSRX, is a forward-looking estimate of the funded status volatility of U.S. corporate defined benefit pension plans."

"Plan sponsors, especially those overseeing plans with high interest rate hedge ratios, can estimate equity market levels when growth assets would be sold. Knowing today the level of where future equity transactions will happen leads to an investment opportunity now for plan sponsors. The opportunity is to monetize the future decision to sell equities through the selling of a 'call' option and collecting a premium."

"The US stock market had its best August since 1986, with the S&P500 hitting new all-time highs led by technology stocks. Pension interest rates increased as well, offsetting the declines seen in July. Many plans will see funded status improvements over the month that are relatively larger than a typical monthly move but will most likely see them still down year-to-date."

"After a modest decline the previous year, assets of the world's 300 largest retirement funds rebounded by 8% to $19.47 trillion in 2019, in what would prove to be the calm before 2020's coronavirus storm ... [G]rowth for the past five years averaged a respectable 5% ... But in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis and the extraordinary policy response to it, the outlook for the coming five years looks considerably tougher[.]"

"The [PBGC] has assumed responsibility for The McClatchy Company Retirement Plan, which covers over 24,000 current and future retirees. The California-based newspaper publisher operates 30 media companies in 14 states.... The agency estimates that McClatchy's plan is 57 percent funded with approximately $1.3 billion in assets and $2.3 billion in benefit liabilities. The plan is underfunded by $1 billion."

"The estimated aggregate funding level of pension plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies increased ... to 83 percent as a result of an increase in discount rates and equity markets. As of August 31, 2020, the estimated aggregate deficit of $433 billion decreased by $124 billion as compared to $557 billion measured at the end of July ... Typical discount rates for pension plans ... increased from 2.20 percent to 2.46 percent."

"[T]he minimum amount required to be contributed to a cash balance plan will almost always leave the assets below the promised benefits, i.e. the sum of the hypothetical account balances.... Contributing the minimum will keep the plan in compliance, but not fully funded. That is where the recommended contribution comes into play.... [The 'recommended contribution'] is simply an amount that, when contributed, increases the plan assets to a level equal to the plan liabilities (hypothetical account balance)."

"The funded status for a typical total-return plan improved by a robust 7.3%, while an LDI-focused plan saw an increase of 3.7%, based on NEPC's hypothetical open- and frozen-pension plans. Gains were driven primarily by the continuing rally in equities and a decrease in liabilities as Treasury rates increased."

"Pensions enjoyed their best month of the year in August, driven by higher stock prices and higher interest rates. Both model plans ... gained ground last month, with Plan A improving 6% and Plan B gaining 1% during August. For the year, Plan A is still down more than 3% and Plan B is down 1% through the first eight months of 2020."

"There were 72 contracts sold in the second quarter 2020, down 35% from the 112 contracts sold in the second quarter of 2019.... Year-to-date buy-out sales totaled $6.7 billion, down 25% compared with the $8.9 billion recorded in the first half of 2019.... There were no single premium buy-in sales reported in the second quarter. The overall group annuity risk transfer sales were $2.4 billion for the quarter, 54% lower than prior year."