Milwaukee bank to complete pension plan phase-out

Bank Mutual Corp. will completely freeze its defined benefit pension plan at the end of this month, completing a process that the Milwaukee-based bank began in 2013.

The phasing out of the plan began on Jan. 1, 2013, when Bank Mutual closed off the plan to new employees. Then, effective Jan. 1, 2014, the company stopped benefit accruals of plan participants with less than 20 years of service.

The latest action, which Bank Mutual estimates could reduce pension related expenses by $2.5 million in conjunction with certain changes in actuarial assumptions, will apply to the remaining 10% of employees still accruing plan benefits.

Bank Mutual earlier beefed up its 401(k) plan.

At year-end 2014, the bank’s pension plan was significantly underfunded with $50.2 million in assets and $71.8 million in liabilities, according to its 10-K statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.