Outcome of the Review of the National Steel Pension Plans’ Assets
In the National Steel plans, we redid the asset evaluations and calculated new benefits. In this case, it appeared that the asset values were slightly lower than originally reported, which would have produced benefit decreases for some participants. However, our policy is that there should be a higher standard of certainty before making changes that would reduce benefits. Since many years had passed and less documentation remained, we decided not to change the original benefit determinations. Therefore no participants’ benefits will be reduced based on the new asset evaluation.
In addition to redoing the original work and correcting errors, we continued our strategic review and began making changes throughout the entire benefits operation, including processes, organization, and personnel. To date, we have:
- recruited new leadership,
- introduced additional training,
- established a new group of specialists in asset evaluation and improved evaluation procedures, and
- formed an independent quality management department to sharpen focus on quality and accountability.
