International Brotherhood of Boilermakers National Pension Trust

At 71% funded, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers National Pension Trust is in the underfunded bracket. The gap to full funding is $56M, an amount that takes years of disciplined contributions to close even with cooperative market returns.

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers National Pension Trust is a multi-employer pension plan sponsored by Boilermakers Union — a collectively-bargained plan covering workers across multiple employers in the same industry or union. Multi-employer plans are PBGC-insured but under a different (and historically less-funded) program than single-employer plans. The plan remains active — accruing new benefits for current employees and accepting new participants. Among private-sector single-employer plans, the active status is increasingly rare as employers freeze accruals while continuing to fund existing obligations; public-sector plans are more often still actively accruing.

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers National Pension Trust is a smaller plan with $140M in assets and 729 participants. Small plans may have simpler investment structures but the same regulatory requirements as larger ones — the fixed cost of compliance is one reason smaller employers have moved away from defined-benefit plans. Participant mix skews toward retirees (466 retired vs 220 active) — a mature plan paying out more than it accrues. Mature plans need stable investment returns plus sponsor contributions to keep the funded ratio steady; the cash-flow profile is increasingly net-negative. Annual cash flows: $120M in sponsor contributions versus $180M in benefit payments. Investment performance over the most recent year ran 5.5%, against the plan's assumed long-term return of 7.0%.

PBGC risk classification: moderate. The plan's funded status puts it under enhanced monitoring but not active intervention. Multi-employer plans like International Brotherhood of Boilermakers National Pension Trust have PBGC backing under a separate (and historically lower-funded) guarantee program. The 2021 American Rescue Plan provided substantial federal support to the multi-employer system, but long-term solvency varies plan-by-plan.