Brauer Supply Asbestos Trust Annual Reports, 2009–2025

Brauer ended 2025 with $5.47 million in net claimants’ equity, down approximately $193,000 from $5.66 million. Interest and dividends of approximately $253,000, net investment gains of $17,000 after management fees and bond amortization, and retained filing fees produced approximately $271,000 in operating additions. Operating expenses were approximately $178,000, leaving a surplus of $92,000 before claims. Recognized Trust Claims obligations increased to $284,952 from $65,645 in 2024 and more than offset that surplus.

The trust received 393 claims and approved 39 for payment. Cash paid on Trust Claims was $133,243, compared with $47,690 in 2024, while no pre-petition liquidated claims were paid. Outstanding Trust Claims offers rose to $170,044 from $18,335; that $151,709 increase reconciles the difference between recognized claims obligations and cash distributions. The payment percentage remained 9.5%. The report’s activity table gives paid-claim counts by disease that are not internally consistent.

Brauer ended 2024 with $5.66 million in net claimants’ equity, down approximately $42,000 from $5.71 million. Interest and dividends of approximately $248,000 were partly offset by $54,000 in net investment losses after management fees and bond amortization. Including retained filing fees, operating additions were approximately $194,000 against $170,000 in expenses. The resulting operating surplus of approximately $24,000 was less than the $65,645 in recognized Trust Claims obligations.

The trust received 524 claims and approved 10 for payment. Five claims were paid for a total of $47,690: four mesothelioma claims and one other asbestos-disease claim. No pre-petition claims or supplemental distributions were paid during the year. Outstanding Trust Claims offers increased from $380 to $18,335, explaining the difference between recognized obligations and cash paid. The 9.5% payment percentage remained in effect, and the year’s equity decline was much smaller than in 2023, when substantial supplements were distributed.

Brauer ended 2023 with $5.71 million in net claimants’ equity, down $1.35 million from $7.06 million. Investment income and gains, together with retained filing fees, generated approximately $355,000 in additions, exceeding approximately $209,000 in operating expenses. That operating surplus was outweighed by $1.50 million in claims-related deductions, principally supplemental distributions following the increase in the payment percentage from 5.5% to 9.5%, effective April 1, 2023.

Cash distributions totaled approximately $1.49 million: $1,126,672 on Trust Claims, including $1,058,297 in supplements, and $358,783 in supplemental pre-petition payments. The trust also recorded a $12,137 increase in unpaid pre-petition liabilities related to the higher percentage. Its annual activity schedule reports 391 new filings, 10 approvals, and nine original claim payments; the payment count excludes supplemental payments, while the reported dollars include them. The equity decline therefore primarily reflected the expanded distributions, despite positive investment results.

Brauer ended 2022 with $7.06 million in net claimants’ equity, a decline of approximately $518,000 from $7.57 million. Interest and dividends increased to approximately $202,000, but net investment losses after management fees and bond amortization totaled approximately $478,000. Operating expenses were approximately $212,000, and recognized Trust Claims obligations added $32,376 in deductions. Investment losses were the largest contributor to the year’s reduction in equity.

The trust paid $43,550 on Trust Claims, substantially less than the $202,347 paid in 2021, and made no pre-petition liquidated-claim payments. Outstanding Trust Claims offers declined to $2,850 from $14,024, so cash paid again exceeded the amount of newly recognized obligations. The payment percentage remained 5.5% during 2022. Lower claims distributions did not offset the adverse investment results and ongoing administrative expenses.

Brauer ended 2021 with $7.57 million in net claimants’ equity, down approximately $354,000 from $7.93 million. Interest and dividends of approximately $155,000 were outweighed by $247,000 in net investment losses after management fees and bond amortization. Operating expenses were approximately $115,000 after a $119,000 income-tax benefit; before that benefit, they were approximately $233,000. A further $148,549 in recognized Trust Claims obligations contributed to the decline.

Cash paid on Trust Claims was $202,347, up from $119,581 in 2020, while no pre-petition liquidated claims were paid. Outstanding Trust Claims offers fell from $67,822 to $14,024, which explains why cash payments exceeded newly recognized claims obligations. The payment percentage remained 5.5%. Investment losses and continuing administration and claims costs reduced equity despite the tax benefit.

Brauer ended 2020 with $7.93 million in net claimants’ equity, down approximately $34,000 from $7.96 million. Investment income and gains, together with retained filing fees, generated approximately $396,000 in additions. Operating expenses totaled approximately $261,000, including $80,000 in income-tax expense, leaving an operating surplus of approximately $135,000. Recognized Trust Claims obligations of $169,909 modestly exceeded that surplus.

The trust received 840 claims, approved 37 for payment, and paid 31 claims during the year. Cash paid totaled $119,581, compared with $796,805 in 2019; no pre-petition liquidated claims were paid. Outstanding Trust Claims offers increased to $67,822 from $17,494, accounting for the gap between cash payments and recognized claims obligations. The payment percentage remained 5.5%, and lower claims activity in dollar terms limited the reduction in equity.

Brauer ended 2019 with $7.96 million in net claimants’ equity, a decline of approximately $532,000 from $8.49 million. Investment income of approximately $234,000, combined realized and unrealized gains of $265,000, and retained filing fees produced approximately $506,000 in operating additions. Operating expenses totaled approximately $224,000, including $55,000 in income-tax expense. Despite the positive investment results, $814,299 in recognized Trust Claims obligations exceeded the operating surplus.

The trust paid $796,805 on Trust Claims during the year, a substantial increase from $42,741 in 2018, and made no pre-petition liquidated-claim payments. Outstanding Trust Claims offers were $17,494 at year-end, explaining the difference between the year’s recognized claims obligations and cash paid. The 5.5% payment percentage remained in effect. The decline in equity was driven by the much larger volume of claims dollars recognized and distributed, rather than investment losses.

Brauer ended 2018 with $8.49 million in net claimants’ equity, down approximately $114,000 from $8.61 million. Investment income of approximately $207,000 was reduced by $153,000 in combined realized and unrealized losses; retained filing fees brought total operating additions to approximately $57,000. Operating expenses were approximately $146,000, and claims obligations, supplemental payments, and liability adjustments produced a further net deduction of approximately $25,000.

The trust paid $42,741 on Trust Claims, including $116 in supplemental payments, and another $4,150 in supplemental pre-petition payments, for total cash distributions of approximately $47,000. Those supplements followed the September 2017 increase in the payment percentage from 2.6% to 5.5%. Reductions in liabilities for withdrawn claims partly offset new claims obligations in the equity statement. Investment losses and operating costs were the main reasons equity declined during 2018.

Brauer ended 2015 with $8.82 million in net claimants’ equity, up $768,000 from $8.05 million. Insurance settlements added $1.06 million and were the principal source of growth. Investment income and gains were largely offset by unrealized losses, leaving approximately $21,000 in operating additions against $110,000 in operating expenses. A further $165,000 in legal fees was recorded separately, along with $38,454 in Trust Claims obligations and a $4,653 reduction in pre-petition claims liabilities.

Cash distributions totaled approximately $166,000: $107,416 on pre-petition liquidated claims and $58,916 on Trust Claims. These payments differed from the year’s recognized claims deductions because some obligations had been recorded in earlier periods. At year-end, pre-petition claims liabilities were approximately $14,600 and outstanding Trust Claims offers were approximately $9,300. The payment percentage remained 2.6%, while the insurance recovery more than offset expenses and newly recognized claim obligations.

Brauer ended 2014 with $8.05 million in net claimants’ equity, an increase of approximately $100,000 from $7.95 million. Investment income and gains, together with a small amount of retained filing fees, generated approximately $190,000 in additions. Operating expenses declined to approximately $83,000. New Trust Claims obligations of $29,770 were partly offset by a $23,283 reduction in pre-petition claims liabilities, producing a net claims deduction of $6,487.

The claims schedule reports 1,089 new filings and 16 claims approved for payment, consisting of seven mesothelioma claims and nine lung-cancer claims. No claims were paid during 2014. The $29,770 recognized for Trust Claims represented outstanding offers at year-end, while the reduction in pre-petition liabilities reflected claims no longer represented by certain settling firms. The payment percentage remained 2.6%.

Brauer ended 2013 with $7.95 million in net claimants’ equity, down $153,000 from $8.10 million. Investment income of approximately $96,000 and realized gains of $30,000 were outweighed by $188,000 in unrealized investment losses. Together with approximately $91,000 in operating expenses, this produced the year’s decline. Unlike 2012, the trust recorded no new insurance-settlement additions.

The trust paid $129,514 on pre-petition liquidated claims during 2013. Those payments reduced a previously established liability, so they did not appear as a new claims deduction in the year’s statement of changes in equity. No post-establishment Trust Claims were offered payment or paid during the year. The payment percentage remained 2.6%, and the report illustrates why annual cash distributions can differ from the claims amount recognized in the financial statements.

Brauer ended 2012 with $8.10 million in net claimants’ equity, up $1.71 million from $6.39 million. Insurance settlements added $2.50 million, while investment income and gains contributed approximately $187,000. Operating expenses were approximately $195,000, with an additional $500,000 in legal fees recorded against settlement-related additions. The trust also recognized $279,458 in claims liabilities, leaving insurance recoveries as the principal source of the year’s growth.

At year-end, 267 pre-petition liquidated claims had been approved for payment, but none had been paid. The $279,458 claims deduction therefore represented an unpaid obligation rather than cash distributed during 2012. No other asbestos claims were approved or paid during the year. The report identifies an initial payment percentage of 2.6%, with payment dependent on completion of the release process.

Brauer ended 2011 with $6.39 million in net claimants’ equity, up $3.24 million from $3.15 million. The audited statement reports $5.0 million in insurance-settlement receipts, of which $1.0 million collected a previously recorded receivable, leaving $4.0 million of additional equity from those recoveries. Investment income and net gains contributed approximately $215,000, and note interest added $7,500. Expenses totaled approximately $979,000, including $917,000 in legal fees.

Insurance collections, rather than investment returns, were the main driver of the year’s growth. The final $150,000 note-principal collection offset the remaining receivable and therefore did not itself increase equity. No claims-payment deduction appears in the statement.

Brauer ended 2010 with $3.15 million in net claimants’ equity, an increase of $757,000 from $2.39 million. The statements recognized $1.02 million in insurance settlements, approximately $121,000 in investment income and gains, and $15,000 in interest on the Brauer Supply Company note. Expenses totaled approximately $400,000, including $341,000 in legal fees. Insurance recoveries again provided most of the increase in resources available for claimants.

The trust collected another $150,000 of note principal, offset by the reduction in the note receivable, and the equity statement records no claims distributions. A subsequent-event disclosure identifies a separate $2.0 million insurance settlement finalized in April 2011, subject to a 20% legal contingency fee and other litigation expenses; that later agreement was not part of 2010’s results. As in 2009, the financial statements were compiled rather than audited or reviewed.

Brauer ended 2009 with $2.39 million in net claimants’ equity, up $1.44 million from $946,000. A $1.80 million insurance settlement accounted for most of the increase. Investment income and gains contributed approximately $53,000, and interest on the Brauer Supply Company note added $22,500. Expenses totaled approximately $432,000, predominantly $410,000 in legal fees, reflecting the importance of insurance recovery work to the trust’s financial position.

The trust collected $150,000 of note principal during the year, reducing the remaining receivable to $300,000; that collection converted an existing asset into cash rather than creating additional equity. No claims distributions appear in the statement of changes in equity. These financial statements were compiled by the accountants rather than audited or reviewed, a distinction relevant to this early report.