Head of PBGC Resigns

In his resignation letter to President Bush, Belt said it had been a “privilege and honor” to serve as head of the PBGC, but said “the time has come to pursue other opportunities.” He noted the “tumultuous” time had by the PBGC in the past two years, and praised Bush for his leadership in retirement security matters.

During Belt’s tenure, the PBGC experienced a record level of pension plan terminations, a dramatic increase in risk exposure, and a near doubling of its customer base, according to a press release. As a result, the number of participants for which PBGC is responsible increased to 1.3 million and the assets managed by the Corporation increased to more than $56 billion. Belt also oversaw the agency when it was involved in numerous complex bankruptcies and corporate restructurings, including settlement of the $10.2 billion claim in the United Airlines case, the largest in the agency’s history, the release said.

The Corporation also achieved the following accomplishments under Belt’s tenure:

• enhanced its risk monitoring and management capabilities,
• implemented robust financial management and internal control systems used as a model by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for other government agencies,
• launched a series of online services for participants and practitioners, and
• implemented a new liability-driven investment policy.

The PBGC also became the first government agency to be given full certification by OMB and the Office of Personnel Management for its executive performance system based on linkage of organizational performance to executive performance.

Belt also said in his letter that serving in the Bush Administration has been the most rewarding experience of his career, and he thanked the members of the PBGC’s Board of Directors for their contributions.