As class-action lawsuits increase over pension risk transfers, IBM has announced that it entered into a $6 billion pension risk transfer agreement with Prudential Insurance Company, completed on September 11. The deal comes after the technology firm, once a leader in the shift from defined-benefit plans to defined-contribution plans in the 1980s, switched to a "hybrid pension" plan in 2023.

Under the terms of the transaction, IBM has purchased a single premium group annuity contract that transfers to Prudential $6 billion of defined-benefit obligations from the company's Personal Pension Plan. The insurer will assume responsibility for making retirement benefit payments to approximately 32,000 retirees and beneficiaries.

"Under the group annuity contract, Prudential has made an irrevocable commitment, and will be solely responsible, to pay the pension benefits of each transferred participant that are due on and after January 1, 2025," according to the SEC filing.

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
  • Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world case studies, and other critical content
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.