Hercules Chemical Asbestos Trust Annual Reports, 2010–2025

Hercules’ net claimants’ equity declined from $3.87 million to $3.64 million in 2025. Revenue increased to $201,977, including $124,902 in interest and dividend income and $69,450 in investment gains. Operating expenses fell to $169,367, leaving a $32,610 surplus before $260,052 in recorded claimant distributions. Unlike 2024, the trust received no insurance proceeds, so the operating surplus only partly offset the reduction associated with claims.

The narrative reports 787 unliquidated claims received and 207 paid for approximately $231,300; the financial notes retain the 2.00% payment percentage. The audited cash-flow statement and distribution note report $223,180 paid, approximately $8,120 below the narrative total, without reconciling the difference. Recorded distributions of $260,052 include a $36,872 increase in unpaid claim liabilities. The trust continued pursuing unresolved insurance coverage, but no new recovery replenished resources during the year.

Hercules ended 2024 with $3.87 million in net claimants’ equity, a modest increase from $3.84 million. Insurance contributions of $157,732, including a $130,000 settlement and two smaller disbursements, offset $133,368 in recorded claimant distributions. Revenue of $188,978 only slightly exceeded operating expenses of $183,882, as professional fees rose to $103,285. The operating surplus was $5,096, making insurance recoveries the principal reason equity increased.

The trust received 912 unliquidated claims and reported paying 161 for approximately $175,008, with a 2.00% payment percentage described in the financial notes. The audited cash-flow statement and distribution note instead report $182,568 paid, a $7,560 difference from the narrative that is not reconciled in the report. The still-lower $133,368 distribution deduction from equity reflects a $49,200 decrease in unpaid claim liabilities.

Hercules’ net claimants’ equity declined from $4.02 million to $3.84 million in 2023. Investment performance improved, with $108,739 in gains helping lift total revenue to $218,972. Operating expenses fell to $126,389, leaving a $92,583 surplus before claimant distributions. That surplus partly offset $271,864 in recorded distributions, limiting the reduction in equity to approximately $179,000.

The trust received 890 unliquidated claims and reported paying 262 for approximately $301,336. The report references the 2.00% payment percentage established in 2022. It also describes a $130,000 insurance settlement agreed in 2024, which was a subsequent development rather than 2023 funding. The year’s improved investment results and lower expenses helped preserve resources, although claim distributions continued to exceed the operating surplus.

Hercules ended 2022 with $4.02 million in net claimants’ equity, down from $4.62 million. Investment losses of $234,660 outweighed interest, dividends and administrative fees, producing negative total revenue of $155,725. Operating expenses increased to $140,001, creating a $295,726 shortfall before $303,563 in recorded claimant distributions. Investment losses and claim distributions both contributed materially to the approximately $599,000 reduction in equity.

The trust received 970 unliquidated claims and reported paying 259 for approximately $371,051. The payment percentage was reduced to 2.00% during the year. Recorded distributions are lower than the narrative payment total because they also reflect changes in unpaid claim liabilities. The report thus documents both a decline in financial resources and a reduction in the percentage payable on qualifying claims.

Hercules reported receiving 1,211 unliquidated claims and paying 209 for approximately $534,605 during 2021. Cumulative unliquidated claim payments reached approximately $6.05 million across 1,641 claims. The report also records a change in the payment percentage to 2.87%, an important development for the level of compensation available on qualifying claims.

The attached 2021 filing states that audited financial statements would be supplied separately and does not include them. For financial context, the audited 2021 comparative figures in the 2022 report show net claimants’ equity falling from $5.06 million to $4.62 million. Investment losses of $93,321 contributed to negative total revenue of $6,625; operating expenses of $121,856 and recorded claimant distributions of $310,280 further reduced equity. Those distribution figures reflect accrual accounting and should not be substituted for the narrative’s cash-payment total.

Hercules ended 2020 with $5.06 million in net claimants’ equity, down from $5.22 million. A $550,000 insurance recovery substantially offset $686,007 in recorded claimant distributions and a $24,114 operating shortfall. Revenue totaled $170,315, while operating expenses fell to $194,429 from $339,869, largely because professional fees dropped to $98,955.

The annual narrative reports 1,568 unliquidated claims received and 159 paid for approximately $431,361, an amount also reported as claims paid in the cash-flow statement. The larger distribution deduction from equity includes changes in unpaid claim liabilities. The insurance recovery and lower administrative costs limited the year’s equity decline to approximately $160,000, even as the trust continued processing a substantial volume of new filings.

Hercules’ net claimants’ equity declined from $5.82 million to $5.22 million in 2019. Revenue rebounded to $234,807, including $89,118 in investment gains, but operating expenses increased to $339,869. Professional fees of $240,518 accounted for approximately 71% of operating costs. The $105,062 operating shortfall and $502,322 in recorded claimant distributions together reduced equity by about $607,000.

The trust received 1,216 unliquidated claims and reported paying 156 for approximately $476,375. Recorded distributions include changes in claims payable and therefore exceed the narrative payment amount. Stronger investment results softened the decline in resources, but did not cover administration, and the report describes continuing efforts to recover additional insurance proceeds.

Hercules ended 2018 with $5.82 million in net claimants’ equity, down from $6.70 million. Revenue declined to $112,817, including $30,187 in investment losses, while operating expenses rose to $284,301 from $157,154. Professional fees increased to $187,711 and drove most of the cost increase. The resulting operating shortfall of $171,484, together with $705,450 in recorded claimant distributions, reduced equity by approximately $877,000.

The trust received 888 unliquidated claims and reported paying 175 for approximately $740,229. That narrative payment figure differs from recorded distributions, which include changes in unpaid claims. No new contributions were reported, although the trust continued pursuing insurance coverage. The year combined increased claim activity with substantially higher administrative costs, placing greater demands on existing resources.

Hercules’ net claimants’ equity fell from $7.34 million to $6.70 million in 2017. Revenue improved to $137,212, supported by $125,155 in investment interest and much smaller investment losses than in 2016. Operating expenses declined to $157,154, principally because professional fees fell to $62,727, narrowing the operating shortfall to $19,942.

The trust received 696 unliquidated claims and reported paying 140 for approximately $591,449. Recorded claimant distributions totaled $616,775 after accounting for changes in unpaid claim liabilities. With no new contributions reported, claim distributions accounted for most of the approximately $637,000 reduction in equity, despite the improved balance between revenue and administrative costs.

Hercules ended 2016 with $7.34 million in net claimants’ equity, down from $8.00 million. Revenue of $80,320 was reduced by $37,024 in investment losses and fell well short of $194,457 in operating expenses. A $46,219 insurance recovery only partly offset the $114,137 operating shortfall and $597,803 in recorded claimant distributions, producing an overall equity decline of approximately $666,000.

The annual narrative reports 426 unliquidated claims received and 171 paid. Hercules maintained the 6.7% payment percentage following its prior review. Professional fees of $99,282 represented just over half of operating expenses, making administration as well as claim distributions a significant source of pressure on the trust’s remaining resources. Recorded distributions include changes in unpaid claims and are not equivalent to cash payments.

Hercules’ net claimants’ equity declined only modestly in 2015, from $8.09 million to $8.00 million, as $785,441 in recorded contributions largely offset claimant distributions of $767,710 and a $100,708 operating shortfall. Revenue was $85,945, including $102,908 in investment interest offset partly by $21,247 in investment losses. Operating expenses fell to $186,653 from $204,756.

The trust received 574 unliquidated claims and reported paying 162 for approximately $676,269. The financial notes reconcile that cash amount to recorded distributions by adding $91,441 in increased claims payable. The payment percentage was 6.7%. Year-end investments totaled $7.51 million, comprising approximately $5.41 million in municipal bonds and $2.10 million in corporate bonds; new contributions, rather than operating earnings, were the main reason equity remained near its prior-year level.

Hercules ended 2014 with $8.09 million in net claimants’ equity, down from $8.99 million. Revenue of $103,260 covered only about half of operating expenses of $204,756; professional fees rose to $95,881 from $39,583. An operating shortfall of $101,496 and $804,231 in recorded claimant distributions together reduced equity by approximately $906,000, with no new contributions reported.

The trust received 1,196 unliquidated claims and reported paying 219 during the year. The financial statements’ distribution deduction includes changes in unpaid claim liabilities, so it is not a cash-payment measure. Hercules continued pursuing unresolved insurance coverage, but the year’s financial results show existing resources funding both claims and administration without an offsetting new recovery.

Hercules’ net claimants’ equity increased from $7.62 million to $9.65 million in 2012, chiefly because it received $2.50 million from the sale of an allowed claim against an insolvent insurer. Revenue totaled $161,393, while operating expenses fell to $192,252 from $327,663, leaving a $30,859 operating shortfall. The new funding more than offset that shortfall and $437,578 in recorded claimant distributions.

The trust received 360 unliquidated claims and reported paying 86 for approximately $336,068 during the year. The financial statements’ distribution figure includes changes in claims payable and should not be treated as the cash-payment total. The reported payment percentage was 6.7%, and year-end investments consisted of approximately $9.00 million in municipal bonds. The improvement in equity therefore primarily reflected an insurance recovery rather than investment earnings.

Hercules ended 2011 with $7.62 million in net claimants’ equity, down from $7.89 million. Revenue of $254,269 included $106,999 in promissory-note interest and $73,312 in investment gains, but operating expenses of $327,663 produced a $73,394 shortfall before $200,832 in recorded claimant distributions. Claims-processing and professional fees together accounted for roughly $280,000 of operating costs.

The annual narrative reports 227 unliquidated claims received and 28 paid for approximately $128,977, plus nine pre-petition claims paid for $85,011. The Hercules promissory note was fully satisfied by year-end, converting the remaining receivable into cash rather than creating a new contribution. The report also describes an agreement to sell an insolvent-insurer claim for $2.50 million, with proceeds to be received in January 2012; that recovery was not part of 2011 contributions.

Hercules began operations in 2010 and ended its initial reporting period with $7.89 million in net claimants’ equity after recording $8.16 million in initial contributions. Revenue of $80,829, principally interest on the Hercules promissory note, was outweighed by $262,166 in operating expenses, including $150,795 in claims-processing fees and $74,130 in professional fees. The resulting operating shortfall was $181,337, before $88,235 in recorded claimant distributions.

This was primarily a startup year devoted to establishing claim forms, releases, investment arrangements and processing procedures. The narrative reports seven unliquidated claims received and no claims paid by year-end. Accordingly, the $88,235 deduction from equity should not be described as cash paid to claimants; the financial statements recognize claim liabilities as well as payments.