By: Russ Kamp, Managing Director, Ryan ALM, Inc.

It is about to get wild! The PBGC’s e-filing portal is now open and four non-priority plans have submitted applications. The PBGC has stated that they will allow enough applications to be filed that allows for an orderly review and a decision within the legislation’s mandated 120-day window. The four funds that filed applications are the IUE-CWA Pension Plan, Laborers’ International Union of North America Local Union No. 1822 Pension Fund, Teamsters Local 11 Pension Plan, and The Newspaper Guild International Pension Plan. In total, they are seeking $370 million for the roughly 21,000 plan participants. Again, the PBGC has 120 days to take action on these applications.

In other news, the PBGC announced that four pension funds received approval, effective March 31st, for the supplemental applications. These plans include the New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund, Teamsters Local Union No. 52 Pension Fund, the Cement Masons Local 783 Pension Plan, and the Cement Masons Local Union #681 Pension Plan. Collectively, they were awarded $450 million for just under 35,000 plan participants. The majority of this allocation was awarded to the New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund, which will receive $438 million for its 33,643 members. Congrats to all of the grant recipients.

There were no applications denied or withdrawn during the prior week. However, there was some activity regarding the SFA lock-ins and waiting lists. The Pension Plan for Bricklayers and Stonemasons Union No. 2 of Norfolk, VA has locked in its valuation date for 1/31/23. They are the only fund of the more than 100 plans that have locked in a valuation date of January 31, 2023. There were no additional plans that were added to the waitlist, which remains at 104.

As a reminder, the numbers displayed above represent the initial or revised applications and do not include supplemental filings. As of today (04/10/23), the number of plans receiving SFA grants from the PBGC remains at 41. There is clearly a lot yet to be done given that 191 plans have been or will be filed, and there may be more than those.