PBGC Takes Over Amcast Industrial Pension Plan

According to a PBGC press release, the Amcast Industrial Corporation Merged Pension Plan covers 6,200 workers and retirees and is estimated to have $77 million in assets to cover $166 million in pension obligations.   The PBGC will be responsible for $83 million of the shortfall.

The company filed chapter 11 bankruptcy in November of 2004.   It applied to terminate its pension plan in March of 2005, according to the release.   In June, a bankruptcy court decided the plan could be terminated as of May 31, 2005.   The PBGC became trustee of the plan this week.

Retirees of the pension plan will continue to receive monthly benefit checks without interruption, and other workers will receive their pensions when eligible to retire. The agency said in its release that, under federal pension law, the maximum guaranteed pension at age 65 for participants in plans that terminate in 2005 is $45,614 per year. The maximum guaranteed amount is lower for those who retire earlier or elect survivor benefits, and certain early retirement subsidies and benefit increases made within the past five years may not be fully guaranteed.

The agency, which has already taken over pension plans for over 140 steel companies and 12 airlines, said earlier in the year that the auto industry was its next big threat (See  Auto Pensions Next Big PBGC Bomb? ).