The investment and management of frozen pension plans

We developed the Frozen Pension Plan Guidebook as a simple, illustrative guide for sponsors who have already frozen–or are considering freezing–their pension plans. It is designed to support decision-making across the full lifecycle of a frozen plan.

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Fifth edition

Russell Investments’ Frozen Pension Plan Guidebook builds on our original Corporate Pension Finance Handbook, focusing specifically on plans that have frozen benefit accruals and are progressing toward eventual plan termination.

Since the previous edition, funded status has improved significantly, driven by higher interest rates and market performance. As a result, many sponsors are approaching the end of their glide paths and evaluating pension risk transfer, surplus management, and liability-driven investing (LDI) strategies.

This edition reflects updated market conditions while maintaining its core focus across three areas:

Funding policy
Investment policy
Risk transfer

A look inside

The guidebook follows a hypothetical company, “Three Peaks Equipment,” and its leadership team as they navigate the investment and management of a frozen plan—from funding and investment decisions to risk transfer and eventual termination.

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Investment policy glide path design presentation spread

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