At our news deadline, we received mountains of calls and emails from members after many reported receiving notification from Verizon that Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement & Trust (IR&T) that it has been purchased by The Principal Financial Group (Principal). Pension payments previously distributed through Wells Fargo would now be serviced by Principal.
According to letters sent by the Verizon Benefits Center, the changeover starts April 1, 2022. At that point, Principal will pay retirees’ pension benefits on behalf of the Verizon pension plan trust.
The letter clarifies that this change will have no impact on any retirees current pension benefit payment amount. It advises that retirees should continue to receive their payment either in the mail or through direct deposit, depending on their previously selected preference.
As the Association continues to monitor the situation and field questions from members about this change, every single person contacting us is a retired CWA member.
News of this transfer was previously reported by the Wall Street Journal in April 2019. At the time, news reports were that Wells Fargo would be selling off its retirement and trust business to Principal for $1.2 billion.
The transferred business includes Wells Fargo’s retirement plan record-keeping and administrative services, executive deferred compensation, institutional trust and custody, and institutional asset advisory businesses.
As this is a developing issue, we intend to look into it further and continue to gather information. We are also in the process of reaching out to Verizon, Wells Fargo, and Principal Financial Group for additional details.
Some may recall last year’s announcement by Prudential of it taking similar action in turning over such pension payment and administration tasks to Empower. Leaders of the Association conducted a meeting with Prudential to gain greater insights.
You have questions about Principal and rightfully so, and we believe you deserve answers. We are committed to learning the intricacies of this switch and how else it affects all of us.
This article was first published in the Spring 2022 Newsletter.