Delta Airlines Pension Fund Turnaround: Strategies and Insights

Jon Glidden is the CIO of Delta Air Lines, where he oversees the company’s $16 billion pension fund. Jon joined Delta in 2011, when the plan had $7.5 billion in assets, a $13 billion underfunded liability, and the highest actuarial expected rate of return (9%) of any company in the S&P 500. Despite funded status that threatened the solvency of the company thirteen years ago, investment performance combined with corporate contributions that offset plan payouts have improved Delta’s funding status from 42% to 102% today, creating the largest corporate pension turnaround in history. Our conversation discusses Jon’s independent thinking and innovative approach that led to his incredible feat. We start with his Naval and investment background and then cover the four forces that drive his investment philosophy - portable alpha, private equity, portfolio construction, and governance - and the implementation of each.

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