The 2015 Pension 40: Jeffrey Immelt

2015-12-imogen-rose-smith-res-pension-40-jeff-immelt-small.jpg

< The 2015 Pension 40: The Long Climb

2015-12-imogen-rose-smith-res-pension-40-jeff-immelt.jpg

14
Jeffrey Immelt
Chairman and Chief Executive / General Electric Co.
Last year: Not ranked

For the past five years, General Electric Co.’s Jeffrey Immelt, 59, has been perhaps the highest-profile CEO to tackle what he described in 2010 as a “drag” on his company’s earnings: corporate pensions. In 2011, GE shuttered its defined benefit plan to new employees and changed how it reported pension outlays. But the problem persists. With $48 billion in assets, GE has the fourth-largest corporate defined benefit plans in the U.S. and is running a $15.8 billion deficit. This year, after union negotiations and cuts to health care payments for beneficiaries over 65, Immelt spoke about the “headwinds” of large annual benefit costs at GE’s annual meeting: “We always want our pension plan to be strong and supported, and it’s that way today. And it will always be that way.” Critics point out that Immelt and other executives are eligible for a so-called supplementary pension plan if they remain with GE until age 60. Even as the company was cutting health care outlays, Immelt’s pay doubled in 2014, to $37.3 million, largely thanks to an $18.4 million rise in the value of his pension payout and deferred pay, which the company attributed to changing interest rates and an actuarial adjustment. As of 2014, after 32 years at GE, Immelt had accumulated $1.8 million in the defined benefit plan; $70.3 million in the supplementary plan, which is unfunded; and $1.78 million in a third retirement fund. In September, GE announced it was selling its $115 billion asset management business, which oversees pension investments and other assets — part of a larger retreat from financial services. The proceeds, which could be as much as $500 million, will go toward the defined benefit obligation.

The 2015 Pension 40 Click below to view profiles