List of Companies Offering Pension Lump Sums Grows

The list of companies offering lump sum payments to help manage pension plan liability continues to grow, with Equifax as the latest addition.

According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, in a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Equifax said it has begun notifying “certain former employees of the Company of its offer to pay their pension benefits in either a lump sum payable by December 31, 2012, or a reduced monthly annuity that will commence December 1, 2012. The voluntary lump sum payment option is based on the present value of the participant’s pension benefit, and is payable at the participant’s election in cash or rollover into a qualified retirement plan or IRA.” 

Equifax said it made the offer to 3,500 vested participants in its U.S. Retirement Income Plan. The group represents about 20% of the company’s total qualified pension plan liabilities, which were about $630 million as of December 31, 2011.  

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In recent weeks, there have been news reports that Thomson Reuters, Visteon and Sears Holdings are also offering lump sum payments to terminated, vested pension plan participants.  

Other companies that have made this move include The Times Co., NCR Corporation and auto giants Ford and GM (see “Times Co. Offers Pension Lump Sums”). 

 

Symetra Adds Three Wholesalers to Sales Team

Bob Carlson, Richard Shearer and Paul Villanova have joined the registered investments external wholesaling team at Symetra Life Insurance Co. in the Midwest and Southeast.

Carlson is Symetra’s senior investment specialist for Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. Carlson joins Symetra from Willis North America in Chicago, where he served as a personal risk adviser for high-net-worth clients. Previously, he spent 11 years at Northern Trust Company, with responsibility for wholesaling mutual funds and separately managed accounts to registered investment advisers and independent advisers. He has held sales roles at Harris Bank, AON, Marsh & McLennan and Kemper Financial Services. Carlson earned a bachelor’s degree at Texas Christian University. He is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter and holds FINRA Series 6, 7 and 63 licenses.

Shearer is Symetra’s senior investment specialist for Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee. Shearer comes to Symetra from Sun Life Financial, where he was responsible for sales and marketing of Sun Life financial products in several southeastern states. He previously held regional sales leadership roles at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, AIM Investments and AIM Funds. A graduate of the University of Texas, Austin, Shearer holds FINRA Series 7, 26, 63 and 65 licenses. He has earned CIMC and CIMA certifications, and is enrolled in a Certified Financial Planner program.

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Villanova is Symetra’s senior investment specialist for Florida and is a variable annuity sales expert, most recently serving as senior vice president and divisional sales manager for Sun Life Financial Distributors in Boston. Before Sun Life, he held sales positions at Conseco Fund Group, ING Funds and Liberty Funds Distributors. Villanova has a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University and a master’s in business administration from Regis University. He holds FINRA Series 6, 7, 26 and 63 licenses.

“Bob, Rick and Paul bring years of experience and valuable market knowledge to our registered investments team. They complement the deep talent we already have on board and will represent Symetra well in their respective territories,” said Dan Guilbert, executive vice president of Symetra’s retirement division.

 

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