By: Russ Kamp, CEO, Ryan ALM, Inc.

I think someone forgot that the calendar flipped from April to May. The April showers have been followed by the May monsoons in New Jersey. The May flowers may be washed out to see!

Regarding the ARPA implementation by the PBGC, the current efiling portal is describes as limited, which is certainly far better than the frequently mentioned “temporarily closed” status. As a result, there were three new applications submitted during the past week. Local 1102 Retirement Trust, IBEW Eastern States Pension Plan, and Local 1922 Pension Plan are each classified as non-priority group members. In the case of Local 1922, its application was revised. In total, these three funds are seeking $53.7 million in special financial assistance (SFA) for just over 6k participants.

In other ARPA news, Aluminum, Brick & Glass Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC, Eastern District Council No. 12 Pension Plan, a Wyomissing, PA based plan, has received approval of its revised application. They will receive $8.5 million for the 580 members of its pension plan. This was the first application approved in nearly a month.

Happy to mention that there were no applications denied, withdrawn, or asked to repay excess SFA during the last week. However, there were two additional plans added to the waitlist. Sports Arena Employees Local 137 Retirement Fund and Retirement Plan of Local 1102 Retirement Fund have been added to the waitlist. In total, 119 non-priority funds have sought SFA through the waitlist process. Neither of these funds locked-in a date for valuation purposes on the discount rate. Four funds have not currently chosen a lock-in date.

There are still 43 plans that have yet to submit an application for review, with all but one of those a non-priority group member. Despite significant recent volatility, U.S. Treasury interest rates, particularly 10- and 30-year maturities, are enjoying fairly robust yields. The 30-year yield is once again above 4.8%. This level of rates provides pension plans receiving the SFA some additional cost reduction to defease benefit payments.