12 to 16 years

27 to 31 years

Percent

Number

Over 31 years

Percent

Number

Percent

TABLE 4-4.-FUNDING OF PRIVATE PENSION PLANS: ASSETS AT BOOK VALUE, AS PERCENT OF PRESENT VALUE 1 OF TOTAL ACCRUED VESTED RETIREMENT BENEFITS, BY PLAN AND BY PARTICIPANT

Present value of accrued benefits is actuarially determined.

ထမ

13

64, 078

33

1,608, 903

25

57

14

1,863, 625

29

18

1,748, 981

16

393, 765

9

218, 594

8

79, 707

24

2226316

355,440

⚫ Sample consists of 410 trustee-administered plans. Comparable data were not available for insured plans.

Note: The sum of individual items may not equal totals because of rounding.

Total.

DISCLOSURE AND FIDUCIARY STANDARDS

Section 8(a) of the Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act, as amended, (29 U.S.C. 307) provides that copies of the description of the plan and latest annual report will be available for examination by the participant in the principal office of the plan, and that the administrator shall furnish a copy of the description of the plan and summary of the annual report to all participants requesting them in writing.

The Act does not, however, specify any standards or requirements relative to the information contained in the description of the plan, nor does it require that financial reports be certified that they accurately present the financial status of the plan as of the reporting date. The Subcommittee sought to learn the extent of the administrator's communication with plan participants regarding the distribution of plan booklets, provisions for appeal of administrators' actions related to benefits, and provisions for reliable financial disclosure of pension

funds.

Table 5-1 indicates that nine out of ten of the pension plans applicable to approximately 95 percent of the participants provide booklets to them explaining the terms, conditions, and procedures of the plan. Both large and small companies provide booklets to participants; almost 90 percent of those plans with under 1,000 participants provided booklets, and over 95 percent of those plans with over 10,000 participants provided booklets .Although it is encouraging to note that most administrators provide such booklets, this does not indicate to what extent the provisions of the pension plans are understood by the participants.

Table 5-2 summarizes the distribution of plans containing provisions which give participants an opportunity to request a hearing on claims for benefits. The table indicates that approximately 55 percent of the plans applicable to a like percentage of participants provide an opportunity to request a hearing. The table also indicates that regardless of the size of the plans, over 50 percent of the plans in each size category give participants an opportunity to request hearings on claims. In only three out of ten plans, applicable to about 35 percent of the participants, is there a requirement for the administrator to furnish the claimants a written denial of claims (see Table 5-3).

Table 5-4 indicates that approximately 30 percent of the plans applicable to over 45 percent of the participants provide for appeal procedures upon denial of benefit claims. It should be noted that 44 percent of the plans with 10,000 or more participants, applicable to 55 percent of the participants in this category, provide for appeal proedures, whereas only 30 percent of the smaller plans with less that 1.000 participants, applicable to one-third of the participants in this category, provide for such recourse.

Nearly 40 percent of the plans, applicable to over one-half of the parcipants, have formal restrictions on the investment of plan assets see Table 5-5). But, in plans with 5,000 or more participants, 60