A new report details the stresses to which multiemployer defined benefit pension plans (MEPPs) are subject, and analyzes how much effect each different type has on plans that are healthy and plans that might not be so healthy.

The Society of Actuaries released its report “Multiemployer Plan Stress Metrics,” which looks at data it says are two key metrics:

  • Previous Benefit Cost (PBC)

  • Previous Benefit Cost Factor (PBCF)

PBC “measures the annualized cost per current active participant to pay off a plan’s unfunded liability,” the report said, adding that it is “calculated by dividing a plan’s unfunded liability amortized over 15 years by the number of active participants in the plan.”

PBCF, which completes the picture, “fills the gaps left by the PBC. It compares the annual cost of paying off unfunded liabilities to the cost of funding the current year’s benefit accruals.”

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