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Pension Funding: To De-Risk or Not to De-Risk

Trend of handing off pension liabilities to insurers is expected to accelerate next year.

By Russ Banham | Updated on December 14, 2012
Companies that sponsor defined-benefit plans are confronted with a conundrum—whether to de-risk their pension liabilities by transferring them to an insurance company or maintain the liabilities in the hope interest rates will soon rise.

What’s a pension sponsor to do? The answer is not an easy one, and at this juncture sponsors seem to be falling into three different camps. Some are hanging tight waiting for interest rates to rise and their funding status to improve. Others are not making significant changes now, but are committing to implementing de-risking strategies as interest rates and their funding status perk up. For the third, much smaller camp—like General Motors and Verizon—de-risking is the name of the game.

These varying decisions depend in large part on one’s expectations of interest rates rising, and when this might actually occur. If hindsight is a good predictor, the likelihood is certainly not in 2013.

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