August 2022

Clorox to terminate primary U.S. pension plan

The Clorox Co., Oakland, Calif., is terminating is primary U.S. pension plan. The household products company's board of directors approved the resolution May 17 to terminate the plan, according to its 10-K filing with the SEC on Wednesday. The company plans to settle the plan with a combination of lump sums to participants and the purchase of a group annuity contract from an insurance company to transfer the remaining assets and liabilities, the filing said. The completion of the termination is expected...

UK. TPR advises employers to shield schemes from refinancing costs

Companies and pension scheme trustees should take steps to protect their schemes and their employer covenant from the fallout of any refinancing that they have undertaken, according to David Fairs, the Pensions Regulator’s executive director of regulatory policy, analysis and advice. In a blog published on August 10, Fairs acknowledged the trend of employers seeking to boost their liquidity in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. This, he noted, would include the agreement of new borrowing facilities, or extension of...

UK. Pensions: More than 1 million workers not participating in workplace scheme

Around a fifth of workers at small medium sized (SMEs) enterprises that are eligible for a workplace pension are not participating in schemes, a new research shows. Analysis of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data from Broadstone found nearly 1.2 million SME employees could be falling through the "pension accumulation gap". Read also U.K. pension regulator calling on plan sponsors to support pension scam prevention strategy  It also found pension participation is "stalling" at SMEs, warning employers at these companies to...

CFA Society Germany proposes merger of occupational with private pension systems

CFA Society Germany, the association of investment professionals, has proposed the merger between the country’s occupational and private pension systems under a format based on models in place in Sweden and Canada to cut administrative and sales costs that would lead to an increase in the level of pensions. The models would cater for two different market segments, one including savers opting for a standardised, state-run pension product, and another for savers who demand control over investments, the association said...

Coca-Cola Consolidated to terminate primary U.S. pension plan

Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc., Charlotte, N.C., plans to terminate its primary U.S. pension plan. The consolidated bottling company said it began the process of terminating the plan during the first half of 2022, according to its 10-Q filing with the SEC on Tuesday. Read also CF Industries offloads $375 million in U.S. pension liabilities In the filing, the company said it plans to offer a lump sum to "certain plan participants" before completing the purchase of a group annuity contract from an insurance...

U.S. corporate pension plan funding holds steady in July above 93% – 3 reports

U.S. corporate pension plan funding ratios remained relatively stable in July after months of poor investment returns had negatively affected the health of the plans, according to three new reports. Legal & General Investment Management America in its report estimated the average funding ratio of the typical U.S. corporate pension plan rose to 95% as of July 31 from 94% a month earlier. LGIMA in its latest Pension Solutions Monitor cited positive equity returns during the month, noting the S&P 500...

July 2022

U.S. House Votes to Restore Delphi Corp Salaried Pensions

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 254-175 to pass legislation that would restore the pensions of 20,000 salaried retirees of Delphi Corp., of which more than 5,000 live in Ohio. It’s the brightest sign yet for those workers whose pensions were assumed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. in 2009 when General Motors was steered through bankruptcy by the Obama Administration. The measure now moves to the U.S. Senate, which may take up the bill as early as today. Under...

FedEx to deliver $800 million to U.S. pension plans in fiscal year 2023

FedEx Corp., Memphis, Tenn., plans to make $800 million in voluntary contributions to its U.S. pension plans during its fiscal year ending May 31, 2023. The shipping company disclosed the contribution in its 10-K filing with the SEC on Monday. The injection of cash into the plans will come despite the lack of minimum required contributions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. In the most recent fiscal year ended May 31, FedEx contributed $533 million to the plans. FedEx...

Swiss corporates post over 20% drop in pension liabilities so far this year

Liabilities at Swiss companies’ pension schemes have continued to fall in the second quarter of 2022, leading to an overall decrease of over 20% since the beginning of the year, according to the latest quarterly Swiss Pension Finance Watch published by WTW. Pension liabilities on companies’ balance sheets have reached their lowest level in nine years in the second quarter of this year, WTW added. In Q1 liabilities dropped by over 12%. The decrease in the two quarters was caused by...

US. Biden to tout plan to protect millions of workers’ pensions

President Joe Biden will travel to Cleveland, Ohio, on Wednesday to announce a plan to prevent cuts to millions of workers' pensions. The launch of the program, created under the American Rescue Plan, comes as Biden's approval rating remains in the doldrums and consumer anxiety mounts over 40-year-high inflation. Under the final rule for the program, 2 to 3 million workers and retirees who faced pension cuts because of investment losses will get the benefits they were set to receive for...