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

Happy New Year! I hope that your 2024 is filled with great health, prosperity, joy, and friendships! Higher US interest rates would be welcomed, too, as that makes managing defined benefit pensions and the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) much easier.

With regard to the PBGC’s implementation of the ARPA legislation, they reported (12/29) no activity for the week. So, no new applications received, denied, approved, and no new pension funds added to the waiting list, which hasn’t seen a new addition since 8/23. Here is the current status of the activity:

There remains a ton of work before the PBGC can declare an end to this process, as only 69 applications have been approved to date, which is 35% of the 197 total applications that will eventually be processed. Importantly, those 69 approved plans have received $53.5 billion in SFA.