Philips North America LLC, Cambridge, Mass., purchased group annuity contracts from Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Co. and Principal Life Insurance Co. to transfer the liabilities of certain pension plan participants.
Met Tower Life is guaranteeing 75% of participants' benefits and Principal is guaranteeing 25% of benefits, according to a Feb. 11 letter to participants obtained by Pensions & Investments.
Met Tower Life, a MetLife subsidiary, will be lead administrator and will begin sending participants their monthly benefits March 1, according to the letter.
The letter said Philips selected the two insurers based on their financial ratings, customer service, experience and reputations.
"In addition, the separate account product purchased by the plan provides additional security to your pension benefit by insulating the investments in the separate account from the insurers' general creditors," the letter said.
The amount of assets and liabilities, and the number of participants whose benefits were transferred were not available.
As of Dec. 31, 2019, the Philips North America Pension Plan had $2 billion in assets, according to the plan's most recent Form 5500 filing.
Silvie Casanova, Philips spokeswoman, and Avi Dines, Philips spokesman, could not be immediately reached for further information.
