Joshua Gotbaum will resign in August as director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
In a letter sent to PBGC colleagues Friday, Mr. Gotbaum said that with three children in college, he promised his wife he would return to the private sector.
Mr. Gotbaum, who after four years is the agency's longest-serving director, said he had “mixed emotions” about leaving. He praised agency staff for working “on one of the major social challenges of our time” and cited accomplishments such as preserving defined benefit plans at American Airlines, undoing one abuse of the church plan exemption and helping preserve a troubled multiemployer plan through partitioning.
But “much remains to be done,” Mr. Gotbaum said in his letter. “PBGC's analysis and creativity will be essential if multiemployer plans are to be saved. Public policy continues to encourage companies to shun lifetime income in favor of lump-sum payments. And PBGC itself remains financially unsound.”
“Josh Gotbaum has done great work on behalf of the millions of people who were counting on the real pensions that the PBGC protects. While the AFL-CIO understands that he was ready for a break, we are sorry to see him go,” said Damon Silver, director of policy and special counsel for the AFL-CIO, in an interview.
Further details could not be learned. Mr. Gotbaum could not be reached for comment.
