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

Welcome to Autumn. Hopefully, the cooler weather will help the PBGC get through these next three months given that they still have 75 multiemployer pension plans waiting to submit an initial application. The PBGC has been processing about eight applications per month. I don’t think that pace is going to cut it for those sitting at the bottom of the queue. It will be interesting to see what transpires as we approach year-end.

There isn’t much to report regarding last week’s activity, as there were no applications submitted – new or revised. No applications approved. Furthermore, there were no pension funds required to rebate a portion of the SFA received resulting from census errors. Thankfully, there were no applications denied.

So, what was done? There were three more funds added to an already bursting waitlist, including Greater St. Louis Service Employees Pension Plan, Twin Cities & Vicinity Conference Board Pension Plan, and Luggage Workers’ Union Local No. 61 Retirement Plan. They’ll now wait and see whether they are given a chance to submit an initial application prior to the December 31, 2025, deadline. Finally, St. Louis Graphic Arts Pension Plan, which had only asked to be included on the waitlist during the previous week has locked in the SFA valuation date as of June 30th.

Despite the Federal Reserve’s recent cut in the Fed Funds Rate, longer-term Treasury yields have backed up anywhere from 12-18 bps, providing multiemployer plans the opportunity to defease benefits (and expenses) at higher yields.