Bondex Asbestos Trust Annual Reports, 2014–2025

Bondex ended 2025 with $573.8 million in net assets, up $17.3 million from $556.5 million. Investment-related additions rose to $53.4 million, including $16.7 million in net interest and dividends, $25.1 million in securities appreciation, and $11.6 million in gains on alternative investments. Claims expense was $31.2 million, compared with $119.3 million in the prior year, when the report identified $90 million in supplemental payments. Operating expenses were $4.6 million and claims-processing expense was $250,000; stronger investment results and lower claims expense allowed net assets to recover part of the 2024 decline.

The trust received 3,448 unliquidated claims and paid 1,202, including 1,177 malignancy claims and 25 non-malignancy claims, with approximately $30.6 million in cash payments on those claims. No pre-petition liquidated claims were paid during the year, and $1.2 million in settled but unpaid claims at year-end was subsequently paid. This report was filed April 28, 2026 for the year ended December 31, 2025. Its Note 1 contains inconsistent 2015 confirmation and effective dates; the annual-report narrative identifies confirmation on December 10, 2014 and the plan’s effective date and trust inception as December 23, 2014.

Bondex ended 2024 with $556.5 million in net assets, down $96.2 million from $652.7 million. Investment-related additions totaled $26.5 million, including $16.2 million in net interest and dividends and $10.2 million in combined investment appreciation. Claims expense rose to $119.3 million, alongside $3.0 million in operating expenses and $249,000 in claims-processing expense. The large reduction in net assets coincided with substantial supplemental distributions following an increase in the payment percentage.

Effective January 1, 2024, the payment percentage increased from 22% to 29.5%, and the report identifies $90 million in supplemental payments made that January. Separately, the annual claims narrative reports 3,361 new unliquidated claims, 973 claims paid, and approximately $26.7 million in payments on those claims; the 973 consisted of 935 malignancy claims and 38 non-malignancy claims. The supplemental payments should be considered separately from that ordinary annual payment count and amount. No pre-petition liquidated claims were paid during the reporting period.

Bondex ended 2023 with $652.7 million in net assets, an increase of $22.7 million from $630.0 million. Net interest and dividends of $16.9 million and combined investment appreciation of $32.2 million produced $49.1 million in additions. These exceeded $22.8 million in claims expense, $3.2 million in operating expenses, and $455,000 in claims-processing expense. The investment recovery restored part of the prior year’s decline, although net assets remained below the $702.3 million reported at the end of 2021.

The trust received 3,129 unliquidated claims and paid 1,120, including 1,072 malignancy claims and 48 non-malignancy claims. It reported approximately $22.5 million in cash payments on those claims and no payments on pre-petition liquidated claims. New filings declined from 2022 while payments increased modestly; $1.1 million in settled but unpaid claims remained at year-end and was subsequently paid.

Bondex ended 2022 with $630.0 million in net assets, a decline of $72.2 million from $702.3 million. Investment depreciation totaled $60.9 million across securities and the international equities fund, outweighing $13.1 million in net interest and dividends. The trust also recognized $21.4 million in claims expense, $2.6 million in operating expenses, and $352,000 in claims-processing expense. Investment losses were the largest contributor to the reduction in net assets.

The trust received 4,028 unliquidated claims and paid 1,097, including 1,046 malignancy claims and 51 non-malignancy claims. Cash paid on those claims was approximately $21 million, and no pre-petition liquidated claims were paid during the year. Claims expense and the number of claims paid were lower than in 2021, but those reductions were insufficient to offset the adverse investment results.

Bondex ended 2021 with $702.3 million in net assets available for claims, down $5.8 million from $708.1 million. Investment-related additions totaled $24.6 million, comprising $12.9 million in net interest and dividends and $11.8 million in combined investment appreciation. These fell short of $27.2 million in claims expense, $2.9 million in operating expenses, $252,000 in claims-processing expense, and $150,000 in tax expense.

The trust received 4,614 unliquidated claims and paid 1,440, including 1,413 malignancy claims and 27 non-malignancy claims. It reported approximately $27.7 million in cash payments on those claims and separately reported paying three pre-petition liquidated claims. Both new unliquidated claims and the number paid declined from 2020, but lower investment gains meant that annual deductions exceeded investment additions, producing a modest reduction in net assets.

Bondex ended 2020 with $708.1 million in net assets available for claims, an increase of $9.5 million from $698.5 million. Net interest and dividends of $10.7 million and combined investment appreciation of $34.1 million generated $44.8 million in additions. The trust recognized $31.3 million in claims expense, $3.0 million in operating expenses, and $946,000 in claims-processing expense, leaving investment results sufficient to cover the year’s deductions.

The trust received 24,950 unliquidated claims and paid 1,727, including 1,711 malignancy claims and 16 non-malignancy claims. It reported approximately $30.7 million in cash payments on those claims and no payments on pre-petition liquidated claims during the year. Operations continued through the pandemic, with trustee meetings shifting from in-person to virtual. Although incoming claims fell substantially from 2019, the number paid increased.

Bondex ended 2019 with $698.5 million in net assets available for claims, up $15.4 million from $683.1 million. With no new initial funding recorded during the year, investment results drove the increase: $16.3 million in net interest and dividends and $37.5 million in combined investment appreciation produced $53.7 million in additions. These exceeded $34.8 million in claims expense, $3.2 million in operating expenses, and $383,000 in claims-processing expense.

The trust reported receiving 48,127 unliquidated claims and paying 1,351 during the year, including 1,340 malignancy claims and 11 non-malignancy claims. Cash paid on those claims was approximately $35 million, while no pre-petition liquidated claims were paid during the reporting period. Strong investment gains allowed net assets to rise despite continued distributions; the large intake count should be read separately from paid claims and does not itself measure the amount ultimately payable.

Bondex ended 2017 with $600.9 million in net assets available for claims, an increase of $64.4 million from $536.6 million. A $119.1 million funding payment, collected early at a discount, was the principal source of growth. Investment-related additions contributed another $28.9 million after valuation changes and bond-premium amortization. Audited deductions included $80.4 million in claims expense, $3.0 million in operating expenses, and $326,000 in claims-processing expense.

Claims activity expanded substantially in the first full calendar year after unliquidated-claim intake opened. The narrative reports 11,178 new unliquidated claims and 3,268 payments on those claims, including 3,260 malignancy claims and eight non-malignancy claims; it separately reports 430 pre-petition liquidated claims paid. The narrative’s dollar amounts for the two claim categories do not reconcile with the audited financial statements, so they should not be combined into a cash-payment total. The audited results show that continued funding supported asset growth despite the sharp increase in recognized claims expense.

Bondex ended 2016 with $536.6 million in net assets available for claims, up approximately $84.9 million from $451.7 million. The increase was driven principally by a $102.5 million funding installment. Investment-related additions were approximately $5.1 million after valuation changes and bond-premium amortization. The trust recognized $19.0 million in claims expense, $3.3 million in operating expenses, and $362,000 in claims-processing expense.

The trust began accepting unliquidated personal-injury claims on July 1, 2016. By year-end it had received 18,580 such claims and paid 973, all involving mesothelioma, with approximately $17.3 million paid on those claims. That cash-payment figure covers the unliquidated claims described in the narrative and is distinct from the audited claims-expense total. The year marked the transition from startup to active claims administration, while continuing funding more than offset the initial distributions and expenses.

Bondex ended 2015 with $451.7 million in net assets available for claims. Its first audited statements cover December 23, 2014 through December 31, 2015 and report $450.0 million in initial funding. Investment-related additions totaled approximately $5.3 million after investment valuation changes and bond-premium amortization, exceeding $3.6 million in operating expenses and leaving net assets approximately $1.7 million above the funding received.

No claims were settled or paid during this initial reporting period, making these results primarily a picture of funding and organizational operations before claim payments began. Additional payments under the funding notes were scheduled for later years and were excluded from reported assets until received; the year-end balance therefore did not represent the full amount of future funding contemplated by the plan.

Bondex’s first report covers only December 23–31, 2014, a startup period of five business days following the plan’s effective date. The trustees received the trust assets and began preparing to hire professionals, invest the funds, and establish operating procedures. At year-end, all invested assets were held in a U.S. government money market fund at Wilmington Trust.

This is an organizational report rather than a full year of financial or claims results: it does not provide audited year-end balances, investment earnings, operating expenses, or a claims-payment total. The report explains that the first audited financial statements would cover inception through December 31, 2015, so those later statements provide the initial financial baseline.