Baker Hughes has decided to terminate the Baker Hughes Company Pension Plan (the “Plan”) and transition responsibility for paying Plan benefits to a qualified insurance carrier. 

Transitioning responsibility for paying Plan benefits to a qualified insurance carrier is common practice for companies that have “frozen” their pension plan.

A qualified insurance carrier will be selected. Only firms that are focused on managing the payment of pension benefits will be considered.

This means that you stopped earning additional benefits under the Plan. The freeze dates are listed in the Plan Termination Announcement Notices which you can find here.

This change will not reduce the benefits you have earned under the Plan.

The Special Election Window is voluntary. If you do not respond by the December 9, 2024, deadline, you will continue to be eligible for the payment options available to you under the terms of the Plan.

Our records indicate that you have a benefit in a defined benefit pension plan that is now part of the Plan.

Cash Balance accounts receive interest credits each quarter. The interest crediting rate in 2025 through the proposed termination date of July 1, 2025, is 4.15%. As a result of the Plan termination and as required by the Internal Revenue Service, the interest crediting rate will be permanently set at 3.20% after July 1, 2025. The rate will no longer change from year-to-year. This rate of 3.20% will apply until you commence your benefit.

For those who are eligible today to take an annuity, if you take an annuity on or prior to July 1, 2025, the annuity conversion rate of 4.15% will be used to determine the amount payable as a single life annuity. If you take an annuity after July 1, 2025, the annuity conversion rate of 3.20% will be used to determine the annuity amount payable as a single life annuity.

The proposed termination date is July 1, 2025. This date represents the legal effective plan termination date but the transition to a qualified insurance carrier is expected to take 12-18 months (or longer) to complete.

This transition will simply change how your benefit will be managed and paid going forward, and Baker Hughes will no longer be the Plan sponsor once the transfer to an insurance carrier occurs.