We are pleased to provide the Ryan ALM, Inc. Q4’25 Newsletter that explores both asset and liability performance for both Q4’25 and calendar year 2025. As you will read, asset growth has exceeded liability growth for both public and private pension plans. Funding continues to improve despite the recent fall in U.S. interest rates that increase the present value of pension liabilities.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions that you might have regarding this publication. Also, please call on us if you’d like to explore a cash flow matching (CFM) strategy to learn how you can reduce risk within your current asset allocation. Thank you for your continuing support of Ryan ALM, Inc. and our mission to protect and preserve defined benefit plans.
Happy New Year! We, at Ryan ALM, wish for you and yours an incredible 2026. May all your pension liabilities be covered and secured.
The PBGC has updated its ARPA spreadsheet after not updating it for the week of 12/26/25. The January 2, 2026, update highlights one application that was submitted, another that was withdrawn, and five new additions to the waitlist. Let’s get into the detail.
Teamsters Local 277 Pension Fund has submitted a revised application. This non-priority pension plan is seeking $18.3 million for its 1,633 participants. The PBGC has until April 21, 2026, to complete its review. In other ARPA news, Columbus, OH based Bricklayers Local No. 55 Pension Plan withdrew its initial application. They are trying to secure $8.7 million in Special Financial Assistance (SFA) for their 483 members.
In addition, there were no applications approved during the prior two weeks, nor were there any plans denied or asked to repay a portion of the SFA due to census errors. The last plan to repay a portion of the SFA proceeds did so back in September.
However, another five pension funds added their names to the waitlist bringing the total non-priority plans to 193, with more than 80 of those not submitting an application by the legislation’s deadline of December 31, 2025. It will be very interesting to see what happens to those plans at this time. As a reminder, revised applications can be submitted until December 31, 2026.
Again, we wish for you and yours an incredible 2026. Hopefully, the U.S. interest rate environment continues to provide recipients of SFA the opportunity to defease future benefits and expenses at attractive rates lowering the cost to secure those promises.
Despite FOMC action that reduced the Fed Funds Rate from 4.25%-4.50% to 3.5%-3.75%, the yield on the U.S. 30-year Treasury bond was higher at 12/31/25 (4.85%) than at year-end 2024 (4.79%). The Treasury yield curve became much steeper during the year as the spread between 2-year notes and 30-year bonds grew from 0.54% to 1.37%. Given the steepness in the YC, using a cash flow matching vertical slice for a portion of the pension plan’s liabilities will provide far greater cost reduction than a 100% CFM for a shorter period. Just something to consider as you look to remove some risk from your DB plan’s AA.
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