News Archive

24 pages. "This report addresses the OIG's accomplishments for the semiannual reporting period from October 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026.... Investigative activities [in this time period included]: 737 Complaints received; 4 Criminal investigations referred for prosecution; 1/0 Indictments/Convictions; 23 Subpoenas issued."  MORE >>

"Not all withdrawals are planned. Sometimes they occur because an employer loses a business contract and simply no longer has work on which to deploy that union workforce.... ERISA allows contributing employers to annually request from a multiemployer plan estimates of withdrawal liability. They are just that. Estimates.... [H]ad M&K requested an estimate during the plan year in which it withdrew, that estimate would have used the old 7.5% interest rate, around $1.8 million. Yet their actual withdrawal liability was $6.2 million." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"[T]he Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's judgment upholding an arbitrator's determination that General Electric Company qualified for the building and construction industry exemption to withdrawal liability under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (MPPAA), and therefore owed no withdrawal liability to the Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust on either of the Fund's partial withdrawal assessments." [General Electric Co. v. Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust, No. 25-1442 (8th Cir. May 26, 2026)]  MORE >>

"Estimated competitive retiree buyout cost, as a percentage of accounting liability, decreased by 80 bps from 100.9% to 100.1% during April. Average pricing buyout costs decreased by 50 bps from 103.9% to 103.4%."  MORE >>

"Resolving a circuit split, the U.S. Supreme Court ... held that actuarial assumptions used to calculate withdrawal liability may be selected after the measurement date. The Court reasoned that actuarial assumptions are forward-looking 'predictive judgments,' and ERISA does not impose a deadline requiring them to be set before the measurement date." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"[1] Withdrawal liability may be higher -- and less predictable -- than you expect.... [2] Arbitration remains your primary remedy.... [3] Engage actuarial and legal advisers early.... [4] Monitor plan communications closely." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"The decision confirms the DC Circuit's view that plans need not have actuarial assumptions in place on the measurement date. The Supreme Court did not decide whether those assumptions must rely only on information available as of that date." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"[T]he Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court's Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of all four counts of the operative complaint, holding that ERISA's 'actuarial equivalent' requirement for joint-and-survivor annuities imposes substantive limits on the mortality and interest-rate assumptions plans may use, and that Section 1055(i) likewise caps preretirement survivor annuity (QPSA) charges at amounts that reasonably reflect a plan's increased costs of providing the benefit." [Drummond v. Southern Company Services, Inc., No. 24-12773 (11th Cir. May 26, 2026)]  MORE >>

"An employer seeking to challenge actuarial assumptions can still request review and demand arbitration, at which point it is now even more critical to press the actuary on the information relied upon to develop the assumptions used to calculate the pension fund's unfunded vested benefits. To the extent an actuary relies on information that becomes known only after the measurement date in developing an assumption, or the assumption is otherwise unreasonable, that assumption is impermissible." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"Employers might have to pay much more in the future when withdrawing from multiemployer pension plans. In a unanimous decision ... the U.S. Supreme Court ruled May 21 that actuarial assumptions for calculating withdrawal liability may be adopted after the last day of the plan year preceding the employer's withdrawal from the plan -- a decision that in this case could result in a payment six times greater than what the employers thought they owed." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled that ERISA does not require pension plans to assess with­drawal liability based on actuarial assumptions adopted be­fore the measurement date.... [R]equiring actuaries to use assumptions se­lected before the measurement date could prevent them from relying on the most up-to-date data when select­ing their assumption." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"[T]he US Supreme Court ... [held] that, under [ERISA], an actuary for an underfunded multiemployer pension plan may calculate an employer's withdrawal liability based on actuarial assumptions adopted after the relevant measurement date for withdrawal liability. In other words, the actuary is not required to select actuarial assumptions 'as of' the measurement date."  [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]   MORE >>

"Employers planning to exit a multiemployer pension fund may wish to carefully consider the timing of the withdrawal. The measurement date for withdrawal liability will be the end of the plan's fiscal year prior to withdrawal, but the actuarial assumptions may be tied to a later date." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Court held that ERISA Sections 1391 and 1393, which govern the calculation of withdrawal liability, do not require the actuarial assumptions to be selected on or before the measurement date. Instead, the Court said that the 'as of' language in Section 1391 means that while the hard data that feeds the UVB calculation must be fixed on the measurement date, the calculation itself can be performed after the date." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

15 pages. "The question presented in this case is whether the 'as of' language sets the measurement date as the deadline by which actuaries must select the assumptions that underlie the withdrawal-liability calculation. The Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit held that it does not, concluding that actuaries may select their assumptions after the measurement date. We agree. The statute governing the selection and use of actuarial assumptions in the withdrawal-liability context contains no requirement that actuaries use assumptions adopted prior to the measurement date." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (S. Ct. May 21, 2026)]  MORE >>

"Practical options: [1] Keep the plan open and let time, future accruals, or compensation changes absorb some of the surplus. [2] Use a companion retirement plan ... [3] De-risk the investment portfolio ... Radical options: [1] Corporate‑level transaction followed by a plan merger where an overfunded plan's surplus is effectively used to offset an underfunded plan's deficit ... [2] Section 420 transfers, where surplus from one overfunded DB plan can be used to pre‑fund retiree health or life‑insurance benefits, [3] Trading liquid assets for a mix of insurance protection and cash value[.]"  MORE >>

"From April to May ... the duration 7 rate increased to 4.94%, while the duration 15 rate rose to 5.02%. Both rates are currently sitting at some of the highest levels observed since June 2025. Additionally, the past two months have produced some of the most meaningful incremental increases seen in some time."  MORE >>

"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates ... and the 24-month average segment rates ... [as well as] the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities ... as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate[.]"  MORE >>

"The PBGC has updated ... information regarding whether the fact that an employer is involved in a merger affects SFA payments, the recipient, and the merger.... After a merger has taken plan, there are restrictions and conditions that apply to the merged plan."  MORE >>

"Criteria for Mergers Involving Plans that Received SFA

• What are the eligibility requirements for a merger involving a plan that received SFA?
• What conditions apply after the merger?
• May plans request a waiver of any conditions beyond those permitted in § 4262.16(f)(4)?

"Request for Approval

• Where should a plan representative file a request for approval?
• When should a request for waiver of one or more conditions be submitted?
• May plans confer with PBGC before submitting a request for approval?
• When must a plan request approval of a merger involving a plan that received SFA?
• If plans want to adopt an alternative allocation method for the merged plan, when should that request be submitted?
• What withdrawal liability methods may a merged plan use to comply with § 4261.16(1)(3)(iv) and (v)?
• How does the example of a compliant alternative allocation method work?
• How does the example alternative allocation method satisfy the requirements of § 4262.16(f)(3)(iv) and (v)?
• Will adoption of the example alternative allocation method satisfy the risk of loss standard?
• May plans propose a different alternative allocation method?"

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"The funded status of the 100 largest U.S. corporate defined benefit pension plans improved by $23 billion during April ... The funded ratio increased from 105.9% at the end of March to 107.8% at the end of April, driven primarily by strong investment returns. Meanwhile, pension liabilities fell during the month after a small increase in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates. The funded ratio at the end of April is the highest since the 108.1% mark observed at the end of October 2007."  MORE >>

"While there are several strategies to reduce the overfunding or minimize the financial consequences, this article focuses on the business owner's state of mind, which is similar to the four stages of grief. Invariably business owners' express denial, as their belief that virtually all of the plan's asset belongs to them is dispelled. This is generally coupled with anger seeking to blame someone else (usually their actuaries) for providing inadequate advance warning."  MORE >>

"Communication planning should begin alongside the de-risking project plan.... Early alignment across legal, human resources (HR), recordkeepers, and consulting partners helps ensure participants receive consistent information from the first notice forward.... Active employees, terminated vested participants, retirees, beneficiaries, and alternate payees face different options and decisions. Tailored messages help groups focus on what applies to them."  MORE >>

"The aggregate funded ratio for U.S. corporate pension plans is estimated to have increased by 4.0% points in April, ending the month at 108.0% ... This month's improvement in the funded ratio is primarily attributed to a 3.6 percentage point increase in asset value, further supported by a modest 0.3 percentage point reduction in liability value. The aggregate funded ratio is estimated to have increased by 3.7% and 10.4% year-to-date and over the trailing twelve months, respectively."  MORE >>

"Pensions roared back in April on the strength of surging stock markets. Both model plans ... gained ground last month: Plan A improved 6% in April, ending the month up more than 5% for the year, while the more conservative Plan B gained 2% last month and is up more than 1% through the first four months of 2026."  MORE >>