Prudential has been selected to participate in a $16 billion pension risk transfer transaction with International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), the second-largest pension risk transfer ever in the U.S. market. Under the terms of the agreement, The Prudential Insurance Company of America, a subsidiary of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), will each insure 50% of the pension benefit payments for each of the approximately 100,000 IBM plan participants and beneficiaries included in the transaction.
Prudential will act as the lead administrator in providing protected retirement income payments to this full population of retirees and their beneficiaries included in the transaction beginning Jan. 1, 2023. MLIC will settle the liabilities under its group annuity contract directly with Prudential.
“Prudential is proud to be selected to help secure the pension benefits for this group of retirees and their beneficiaries,” said Scott Gaul, head of institutional retirement strategies at Prudential. “IBM is entrusting the fulfillment of these pension promises to an insurer with deep experience and leadership in managing and administering retirement benefits. Prudential is committed to providing plan participants a seamless transition with the superior service they expect and deserve. This deal is another great example of our strategy in action, as we work to expand access to retirement security, drive business growth and deliver industry-leading customer and client experiences.”
Since 1928, Prudential has been a leader and innovator in the pension risk transfer market, offering pension solutions to companies and organizations across a wide range of industries to better manage their pension risk and costs. Prudential revolutionized the modern pension risk transfer market by pioneering pension buy-outs with General Motors and Verizon in 2012. Many similar transactions followed, including the 2021 risk transfer of the pension liabilities of HP, Inc. Today, with the top three largest pension risk transfers on record, Prudential continues to help employers satisfy their commitments to retiring workers, while providing these companies the freedom to focus on their core businesses.
The Retirement Strategies team at Prudential protects financial outcomes for more than 2 million customers through its lines of Individual Retirement Strategies, including Prudential FlexGuard, FlexGuard Income and PruSecure, and Institutional Retirement Strategies, including U.S. Pension Risk Transfer, International Reinsurance, Institutional Stable Value and Structured Settlements.
Prudential Financial, Inc., a global financial services leader and premier active global investment manager with more than $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2022, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees help to make lives better, creating financial opportunity for more people by expanding access to investing, insurance, and retirement security. Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise, and innovation for more than a century.