Tag Archives: grants

12.01.25
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ARPA Updated as of November 28, 2025

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

We hope that you enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends. This update is the last one for November. Wow, that month went by quickly.

Regarding the ARPA legislation, have we entered the last month for new applications to be received by the PBGC? As I’ve mentioned multiple times, the ARPA pension legislation specifically states that initial applications must be submitted to the PBGC by 12/31/25. Revised applications can be submitted through 12/31/26. If this is the case, we have roughly 83 applications yet to be submitted. Compounding this issue is the fact that the PBGC’s e-Filing portal is temporarily closed.

The PBGC’s recorded activity was light last week which shouldn’t surprise anyone given the holiday last week. There were no applications received, denied, or withdrawn. Furthermore, there were no recipients of Special Financial Assistance (SFA) requested to rebate a portion of the grant payment due to census issues. Thankfully, it has been more than two months since we last had a plan pay back a small percentage of the proceeds.

There was some good news, as Exhibition Employees Local 829 Pension Fund, a non-priority group member, received approval of its initial application. The fund will receive $14.2 million in SFA for the 242 plan participants. This pension plan became the 70th non-priority plan to receive SFA and the 145th overall. To-date, $72.8 billion in SFA grants have been awarded!

Despite the near unanimity by market participants that U.S. Treasury yields will fall as the Fed’s FOMC prepares another Fed Funds Rate cut, interest rates are rising today. The current level of Treasury yields and bonds that price off that curve are still providing SFA recipients with attractive rates in which to secure the promised benefits through a cash flow matching (CFM) strategy. Don’t subject the SFA to the whims of the markets, especially given so much uncertainty and currently high valuations.

06.17.24
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ARPA Update as of June 14, 2024

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

We hope that you enjoyed a wonderful Father’s Day. I’m blessed to still have my Dad with us (95 years young). In addition, I have two sons and two sons-in-law who are wonderful fathers. It was a terrific day!

Regarding ARPA and the PBGC’s implementation of that critical pension legislation, there was some activity during the previous week. However, the filing portal remains temporarily closed for those plans still seeking relief through the SFA grants. That said, there are still 17 applications that are currently being reviewed with 6 of those nearing the 120 deadline for action. Those six plans are seeking nearly $5.5 billion in SFA. As a result, the rest of June is going to be busy for the PBGC.

The Pension Plan for the Arizona Bricklayers’ Pension Trust Fund received approval for its application. They will receive $10.7 million to protect the pensions for the 666 members of the plan. This non-priority plan received approval on their initial application. In other news, there were no applications either denied or withdrawn. However, the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters National Pension Fund joined Central States as the only other plan to repay excess SFA as a result of a death audit. In this case, they are repaying just over $8 million.

Have a great week. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you like to learn more about cash flow matching and how it can be used to extend and protect the SFA grant assets so vital to ensuring that the pension promises are met for your participants.