2024 – Participant and Plan Sponsor Issues at a Glance
The Advocate’s eleventh Annual Report, issued January 17, 2025, details the Office of the Advocate’s activities and recommendations to improve participant and plan sponsor experiences with PBGC. The report identifies larger cross-agency themes and areas for improvement, including strengthening escalation procedures and oversight, increasing transparency by memorializing processes, and enhancing communications with the agency’s stakeholders.
The Annual Report describes a number of operational improvements and recommendations. Participant recommendations include increasing public access to the agency’s benefits administration procedures and improving the Office of Benefits Administration's communications regarding the potentially omitted participant review process. The Report also recommends enhancements to the agency’s administrative review process and existing interagency coordination efforts. Additionally, the Report details plan sponsor issues, such as the distress termination and termination liability settlement processes and need for the agency to implement prior Advocate Annual Report Recommendations.
The Annual Report also highlights plan sponsor concerns about single-employer PBGC premiums and their effect on the future of the defined benefit system. The Report includes a final report from the Advocate’s Retirement Security Policy Initiative, which discusses premiums, as well as other ways that PBGC can promote, preserve, and protect the defined benefit system in accordance with its mission.
In addition to describing case activity and other participant and plan sponsor issues and initiatives, the Report describes the Office of the Advocate’s goals and expected activities for 2025, including increased outreach with participant and plan sponsor stakeholders. The Report also presents suggested legislative improvements to the Advocate’s enabling statute, ERISA 4004.
For more information, including the Advocate’s comments and recommendations, visit the 2024 Advocate Annual Report.