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Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

1200 K Street NW., Washington, DC 20005

202-326-4000
800-400-7242
http://www.pbgc.gov

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CHAIR (Secretary of Labor)Alexander Acosta
Member (Secretary of the Treasury)Steven Mnuchin
Member (Secretary of Commerce)Wilber Ross

OFFICIALS

OFFICIALS
DIRECTORThomas Reeder
Chief, Benefits AdministrationDavid Foley
Chief CounselIsrael Goldowitz
Chief Financial OfficerPatricia Kelly
Chief Information OfficerRobert Scherer
Chief Investment OfficerJohn Greenberg
Chief Management OfficerAlice Maroni
Chief, Negotiations and RestructuringKaren Morris
Chief of StaffAnn Orr
Chief Policy Officer(vacancy)
Deputy Chief, Benefits Administration(vacancy)
Deputy Chief, Negotiations and Restructuring(vacancy)
Deputy Chief Policy OfficerMichael Rae
Deputy General CounselPhilip Hertz
Director, Department of BudgetEdgar Bennett
Director, Department of Communications Outreach and Legislative AffairsMartha Threatt, Acting
Director, Department of Corporate Controls and ReviewsMartin Boehm
Director, Department of Corporate Finance and RestructuringAdi Berger, Acting
Director, Department of Financial OperationsTheodore Winter
Director, Department of Human ResourcesArrie Etheridge
Director, Department of Information Technology and Business ModernizationVidhya Shyamsunder
Director, Department of Information Technology Infrastructure OperationsJoshua Kossoy
Director, Department of Policy Research and AnalysisChristopher Bone
Director, Department of ProcurementSteve Block
Director, Department of Quality ManagementDiane Braunstein
Director, Department of Workplace SolutionsAlisa Cottone
General CounselJudith Starr
Inspector GeneralRobert A. Westbrooks

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation protects the retirement incomes of American workers in private-sector defined benefit pension plans.

Organizational Chart

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is a self-financing, wholly owned Government corporation subject to the Government Corporation Control Act (31 U.S.C. 9101-9109). The Corporation, established by title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1301-1461), operates in accordance with policies established by its Board of Directors.

The Board comprises the Secretaries of Labor, Commerce, and the Treasury. The Secretary of Labor serves as Chair of the Board. A seven-member advisory committee, comprising two labor, two employer, and three general public representatives whom the President appoints, advises the PBGC on investment issues. The President also appoints the PBGC's Director, whom the Senate then confirms.

http://www.pbgc.gov/about/who-we-are.html

Activities

Coverage

The Corporation insures most private sector defined-benefit pension plans that provide a pension benefit based on factors such as age, years of service, and salary.

It administers two insurance programs, separately covering single-employer and multiemployer plans. More than 40 million workers and retirees participate in nearly 24,000 covered plans.

Single-Employer Insurance

Under the single-employer program, the Corporation guarantees payment of basic pension benefits if an insured plan terminates without sufficient assets to pay those benefits. The law limits, however, the total monthly benefit that the PBGC may guarantee for one individual to $5,011.36 per month for a 65-year-old individual in a pension plan that terminates in 2015. The law also sets other restrictions on PBGC's guarantee, including limits on the insured amount of recent benefit increases. In certain cases, the Corporation may pay some benefits above the guaranteed amount depending on the funding level of the plan and amounts recovered from employers.

A plan sponsor may terminate a single-employer plan in a standard termination if the plan has sufficient assets to purchase private annuities to cover all benefit liabilities. If a plan does not have sufficient assets, the sponsor may seek to transfer the pension liabilities to the PBGC by demonstrating that it meets the legal criteria for a distress termination. In either termination, the plan administrator must inform participants in writing at least 60 days prior to the date the administrator proposes to terminate the plan. Only a plan that has sufficient assets to pay all benefit liabilities may terminate in a standard termination. The Corporation also may institute termination of underfunded plans in certain specified circumstances.

http://www.pbgc.gov/wr/benefits/guaranteed-benefits.html

Multiemployer Insurance

Under title IV, as revised in 1980 by the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (29 U.S.C. 1001 note), which changed the insurable event from plan termination to plan insolvency, the Corporation provides financial assistance to multiemployer plans that are unable to pay nonforfeitable benefits. The plans are obligated to repay such assistance. The act also made employers withdrawing from a plan liable to the plan for a portion of its unfunded vested benefits.

http://www.pbgc.gov/prac/multiemployer.html

Premium Collections

All defined-benefit pension plans insured by the PBGC are required to pay premiums to the Corporation according to rates set by Congress. The per-participant flat-rate premium for plans starting in 2015 is $57.00 for single-employer plans and $26.00 for multiemployer plans. Underfunded single-employer plans must also pay an additional premium equal to $24 per $1,000 of unfunded vested benefits. A termination premium of $1,250 per participant per year applies to certain distress and involuntary plan terminations, payable for 3 years after the termination.

http://www.pbgc.gov/prac/prem/premium-rates.html

Sources of Information

Blog

The PBGC Web site features the "Retirement Matters" blog.

http://www.pbgc.gov/about/who-we-are/retirement-matters

Business Opportunities

The PBGC tries to give a fair share of its procurement awards and subcontracting opportunities to small businesses. The PBGC regularly procures accounting, actuarial, auditing, benefits administration, legal, and information technology services.

The agency utilizes various types of contract vehicles that are outlined in the "Federal Acquisition Regulation". These types of contract vehicles include agreements, commercial contracts, major contracts, orders against other Government contracts, and purchase orders.

http://www.pbgc.gov/about/procurement.html

Career Opportunities

The PBGC relies on accountants, actuaries, administrative personnel, analysts, attorneys, auditors, employee benefits law specialists, information technology experts, public affairs specialists, and other professionals to carry out its mission.

http://www.pbgc.gov/about/jobs.html

Fraud Alerts

The PBGC, with support from its Office of the Inspector General, posts fraud alerts to spread awareness of scams.

http://www.pbgc.gov/wr/other/pg/fraud-alerts.html

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

The PBGC participates in FOIAonline, which allows information seekers to submit electronic FOIA requests, to track the status of requests, to search for requests submitted by others, to access released records, and to generate agency-specific processing reports.

https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/home

FOIA requests must be in writing and may be submitted also by email, fax, or by regular mail to the Disclosure Officer, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street NW., Suite 11101, Washington, DC 20005. Fax, 202-326-4042.

http://www.pbgc.gov/about/pg/footer/foia.html | Email: disclosure@pbgc.gov

Glossary

The PBGC maintains a glossary of terms with simplified definitions. Some terms and their definitions are PBGC-specific in usage.

http://www.pbgc.gov/about/pg/header/glossary.html

Insured Pension Plans

A list of pension plans that recently paid premiums to the PBGC is available online.

http://www.pbgc.gov/wr/find-an-insured-pension-plan/pbgc-protects-pensions.html

Open Government

The PBGC posts datasets that are useful for increasing agency accountability, public knowledge of the agency and its operations, and economic opportunity.

http://www.pbgc.gov/open/index.html | Email: opengov@pbgc.gov

Plain Language

PBGC writers and editors are committed to using plain language in new communications and revising confusing or unclear language in existing material. Send them a note via email if a sentence or paragraph's clarity could be improved.

http://www.pbgc.gov/about/pbgc-in-plain-english.html | Email: webmaster@pbgc.gov

Press Room

The PBGC posts press releases on its Web site.

http://www.pbgc.gov/news/press.html

An online subscription form is available to sign up for the latest news, delivered via email, from the PBGC.

http://www.pbgc.gov/about/stay-informed.html

Site Map

PBGC Web site visitors may use the site map to look for specific topics or to browse for content that aligns with their interests.

http://www.pbgc.gov/pbgc-sitemap.html
http://www.pbgc.gov/about/pg/contact/contact.html

For further information, contact the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 1200 K Street NW., Washington, DC 20005-4026. Phone, 202-326-4000 or 800-400-7242 .