General Electric pays $2.65 billion in lump sums

General Electric Co., Boston, distributed lump sums in December totaling $2.65 billion to participants who accepted an offer made in October, the company disclosed in its 10-K filing Tuesday with the SEC.

The company offered lump-sum payment option for a limited time to about 100,000 former U.S. employees who had not yet started to receive benefits. The number of former employees who accepted the offer was not disclosed in the filing.

The offer was made in tandem with GE's announcement that it plans to freeze its U.S. pension plan for about 20,000 salaried employees and its U.S. supplementary pension plan for some 700 employees.

Employees affected by the freeze will move into the firm's 401(k) plan effective Jan. 1, 2021.

GE's primary U.S. pension plan has been closed to new employees since Jan. 1, 2012.

Also in October, GE announced its intention to contribute between $4 billion and $5 billion to the primary U.S. pension plan in 2020. GE also announced in the new 10-K filing that it plans to contribute $500 million to “other pension plans.”

As of Dec. 31, primary U.S. pension plan assets totaled $52.6 billion, while projected benefit obligations totaled $71.8 billion, for a funding ratio of 73.3%, up from 73% a year earlier. The plan's discount rate fell to 3.36% from 4.34% the year before.

The actual allocation of the primary U.S. pension plan was 42.3% fixed income, 40.7% global equities, 10.4% private equity and other, and 6.6% real estate.

Spokeswoman Mary Kate Nevin said GE has not disclosed the number of former employees who accepted the offer.