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Session 14: Economic Policy Briefing -- The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, Retirement Security, and Taxpayer Liability
The PBGC plays a pivotal role in assuring the retirement security of millions of American workers, yet is also responsible to the Congress and the taxpayer. What can these covered workers expect, and what will be the likely cost to the taxpayer under the most likely best-case and worst-case scenarios? How will reform proposals now on the table affect these outcomes?
Sponsor: NABE Corporate Planning Roundtable
Presentations
Links of Interest
Pension Benefits Guarantee Board
Speakers
David A. Wyss
Chief Economist
Standard & Poor’s, presiding
David A. Wyss is chief economist at Standard & Poor’s, based in New York. In this position, he is responsible for S&P’s economic forecasts and publications, and co-authors the monthly Equity Insight and the weekly Financial Notes. David joined Data Resources, Inc. in 1979 as an economist in the European Economic Service in London, which was acquired by McGraw-Hill. He came back to the United States in 1983 as Chief Financial Economist for DRI/McGraw-Hill, became chief economist for Standard & Poor’s DRI in 1992, and chief economist for Standard & Poor’s in 1999. Before joining DRI, Dr. Wyss was a Senior Staff Economist with the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Board, and Economic Advisor to the Bank of England.
David holds a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. He is on the board of the National Association for Business Economics. David testifies regularly before Congress, is quoted regularly in the press, and has appeared on many major television programs. He has written many articles for popular and professional publications.
Bradley D. Belt
Executive Director
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Bradley D. Belt is Executive Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a government corporation that protects the pension benefits of 44.1 million Americans.
As the chief executive officer of the Corporation, Mr. Belt is responsible for the PBGC’s operations including administration of two insurance programs covering 30,330 defined benefit plans sponsored by private sector employers, providing annual benefit payments of about $3.7 billion to nearly 1.2 million workers and retirees, and management of assets totaling more than $56 billion. In addition to his management responsibilities, he assists in shaping and communicating Administration policy on pension and retirement security issues.
Mr. Belt brings to the PBGC more than 20 years of executive management, financial markets, and policy development experience in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. In the private sector, he has been a financial industry executive, management consultant, and government relations strategist. His government service includes senior staff positions with the Securities Exchange Commission and United States Senate, including as counsel to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. He also has been an executive officer with a leading public policy institute, the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Mr. Belt has received numerous awards and honors, and has served on the boards of private sector companies and non-profit organizations. His service includes an appointment by President George W. Bush to the Social Security Advisory Board, as executive director of the bipartisan National Commission on Retirement Policy, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral. Belt holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska, a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center, and he completed the Senior Executives in Government program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
The PBGC was established by Congress under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. The Corporation receives no funds from general tax revenues. Its operations are financed largely by insurance premiums paid by companies that sponsor pension plans and by investment returns.
