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

Welcome to November! What should be a very busy period for the PBGC, as the implementation of the ARPA pension legislation winds down, showed little obvious activity last week.

In fact, there were no applications, revised or new, received by the PBGC last week. No applications currently under review were approved and none were denied as not eligible. Furthermore, there were no pension systems seeking to be added to the waitlist, which hasn’t seen a new candidate since August. As a reminder, initial applications must be received prior to December 31, 2026.

The lone activity related to the withdrawal of America’s Family Benefit Retirement Plan application once more. This priority group 1 plan as now submitted and withdrawn four applications dating back to March 2022. This latest attempt occurred in July. Will they finally figure out what is needed to get the PBGC’s approval?

As the chart below highlights, there are 45 pension plans currently in the queue, while another 60+ are hoping to get their shot at the Special Financial Assistance (SFA).

As a reminder, the PBGC has awarded $78.3 billion in SFA to 2.03 million American retirees and workers. Think about the economic activity that is created through these grants.