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DOL Reaches Settlement with Prudential Insurance Company of America to Revise Life Insurance Practices That Denied Claims

"The [DOL] announced a settlement with the Prudential Insurance Company of America ... that will require the financial giant to revise its practices after a federal investigation found the ... company collected life insurance premiums from participants for extended periods, but then denied numerous claims after the participants died, citing the participants' failure to provide evidence of insurability when they applied for insurance."

The Four Pillars and Public Policy: Prudential's Positions on Legislative and Regulatory Issues Impacting Retirement Security in America (PDF)

Prudential has developed the 'Four Pillars of U.S. Retirement' as a framework to discuss how Americans will prepare for and live in retirement. The Four Pillars have their origin in the traditional 'three-legged stool' of retirement security: Social Security, Employment-Based Retirement Plans, and Personal Savings. To this, Prudential has added a fourth Pillar, Retirement Choices, to capture lifestyle and financialconsiderations for today's and tomorrow's retirees.

Coca-Cola Co. Plans to Seek Approval to Fund Retiree Health Care Benefits Through Its South Carolina-Domiciled Captive Insurance Company

Excerpt: In a complex transaction, Coca-Cola would use funds now held in a trust, known as a voluntary employee beneficiary association, to purchase insurance accident and health policies from Prudential Insurance Co. of America. Coca-Cola established the VEBA two years ago, contributing assets of $216 million. In turn, Prudential would reinsure the policies through Red Re Inc., the captive Coca-Cola set up in 2006 in South Carolina. The company now uses Red Re to fund a wide range of risks, including benefit coverages of employees outside the United States.

Prudential's Plan to Demutualize May Have Fiduciary Impact on Benefit Plans and their Sponsors (PDF)

Excerpt: The impending conversion of Prudential Insurance Company of America from a mutual company to a publicly traded corporation raises important considerations for employee benefit plans and plan sponsors. Pursuant to Prudential's plan of demutualization, certain eligible policyholders will receive compensation in the form of shares of Prudential stock, cash or policy credits (i.e., enhancements to policy value).

Long-Term Care Insurance: A Piece of the Retirement & Estate Planning Puzzle (PDF)

Specifically, the study measures attitudes towards and knowledge of long-term care insurance among Americans. The survey also explores concerns about needing extended care services, confidence in being able to pay for such services in the future, perceived methods of funding the expenses associated with long-term care, and the misperceptions about and barriers to purchasing long-term care insurance.

DOL Advisory Opinion 2001-02A Addresses Fiduciary Aspects of Demutualization

Excerpt: This is in response to your request ... in connection with The Prudential Insurance Company of America's (Prudential) proposed plan of demutualization. You ask whether Prudential will be acting in a fiduciary capacity when it provides its policyholders with certain information regarding the allocation of demutualization proceeds attributable to those policyholders. You also ask whether Prudential would be acting in a fiduciary capacity if it implements a specified 'default' method ...

Sixth Circuit Finds ERISA Life Insurance Claim Time-Barred Under Clear Repudiation Rule

"Prudential informed the executor in December 2014 that the benefits had already been paid. When the executor received the Form 712 form, it was confirmation that the benefits would not be paid to the children and constituted a clear and unequivocal repudiation of benefits. The one-year contractual limitations period began to run from this date." [D.S.S. v. Prudential Insurance Company of America, No. 21-5315 (6th Cir. Jan. 10, 2022)]

DOL Information Letter Addresses ERISA's Trust Requirement as Applied to Demutualizations

Excerpt: This is in response to your request for guidance from the Department of Labor (Department) regarding the alternatives available under the trust requirement of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) with respect to receipt by policyholders of demutualization proceeds belonging to an ERISA covered plan in connection with The Prudential Insurance Company of America's (Prudential) proposed plan of demutualization.

GM Announces Major Pension Settlement Actions

"On June 1, General Motors Co. (GM) announced a program that will eliminate approximately $26 billion in pension liabilities for salaried retirees and beneficiaries by the end of 2012. This reduction in GM's pension obligation will be accomplished through a combination of (1) offering lump sums to 42,000 of its 118,000 salaried retirees and beneficiaries impacted by the program, and (2) purchasing annuities from The Prudential Insurance Company of America for those retirees and beneficiaries who did not receive a lump sum payment. The size of the transaction alone makes it unique within corporate America and the pension industry. In the United States, the entire volume of pension liabilities annuitized in recent years has not exceeded $1 billion per year, and no single annuity transaction has exceeded $1 billion since the 1980s."

DOL's Final Investment Advice Rules (PDF)

The final rules establish the conditions fiduciary advisers must follow to comply with the prohibited transaction exemption provided by PPA. Parties eligible to be 'fiduciary advisers' include banks, insurance companies, broker dealers, and registered investment advisers, as well as all of their affiliates, employees, representatives, and agents. In addition, a person who develops or markets the program used to provide advice is considered a 'fiduciary adviser.'