Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 495 - Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System › Chapter 21 - Mergers › Rule 495-21.1 - Procedures for Merger of Qualified Pension Plans With Ipers

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
(1) Effective January 1, 2003, IPERS will
			 begin accepting qualified pension plans for merger into the IPERS pension plan.
			 This merger process shall provide for the transfer of all active and inactive
			 members, retired members, and beneficiaries of retired members of the merging
			 plan into IPERS, except as otherwise agreed to by IPERS and the merging
			 plan.
(2) The merging plan shall
			 transfer assets to IPERS in an amount equal to the actuarial accrued liability
			 created for IPERS as the result of the transfer of pension obligations owed to
			 active, inactive and retired members of the merging plan. Said actuarial
			 accrued liability shall be determined using the merging plan's membership data,
			 the IPERS benefit structure, and the current IPERS actuarial valuation
			 assumptions as of the date of the transfer.
(3) All years of service under the merging
			 plan shall be recognized by IPERS for purposes of determining eligibility and
			 vested status and calculating IPERS benefits.
(4) All wage records for current active
			 members shall be summarized on the quarterly basis used by IPERS to determine a
			 member's IPERS benefits. IPERS will not independently verify wage records but
			 will monitor those records to ensure that IRC Sections 40I(a)(17)(A) and (B)
			 limits are not exceeded.
(5) The
			 merging plan's actuary may determine that the accrued benefit of an active or
			 inactive member of the merging plan exceeds the member's accrued IPERS benefits
			 based on the merging plan's membership data and the IPERS benefit structure.
			 The compensation of such individuals for any difference between the monthly
			 benefit they accrued in the merging plan and the benefit they will have under
			 IPERS shall be at the merging plan's sole discretion, and IPERS shall have no
			 liability.
(6) The same methods of
			 conversion and cash out will be used for terminated vested members with a
			 current plan account in the merging plan and for members, if any, who
			 previously elected to freeze their accounts in the former plan to begin
			 participation in IPERS.
(7) The
			 merging plan's retired members shall receive annuity payments from IPERS in the
			 same forms and amounts as provided in the merging plan, provided those forms of
			 payment are available under IPERS. If any retired member from the merging plan
			 is also receiving a benefit from IPERS and the forms of benefits under the two
			 plans differ, the retired member must agree to have the benefit payable from
			 the merging plan converted and paid in the same form as the benefit under
			 IPERS. Dividends for retired members transferred to IPERS shall be determined
			 based on the first month of entitlement under the merging plan.
(8) The monthly benefit payable to
			 transferred members (excluding retired members) by IPERS may be greater or less
			 than the monthly benefit they would have received under the merging plan. IPERS
			 shall not be responsible for any difference in the two benefit amounts. It
			 shall be the sole responsibility of the merging plan to ensure the protection
			 of the accrued benefits of the merging plan's members and
			 beneficiaries.
(9) IPERS may agree
			 to accept in-kind transfers of assets in satisfaction of the liabilities
			 created by the merger, but may, in IPERS' sole discretion, decline all in-kind
			 asset transfers and demand cash to fund the merger.