October 2026
08Oct

A Record 95% of Sponsors With De-Risking Goals Intend to Fully Divest Their Pension Liabilities, MetLife Poll Finds

Defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors are in one of their strongest funding positions in decades, and a record 95% of those with de-risking goals, up from 76% in 2019, ultimately intend to completely divest their pension liabilities. According to MetLife's 2026 Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) Poll, released today, PRT remains the key solution, with 88% of these sponsors considering a PRT solution with an insurer. The poll found an average funded ratio of 96%, with 36% of plans overfunded...

October 8, 2026
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06Oct

UK. DB schemes divided on endgame strategy amid improved funding

Defined benefit (DB) pension schemes are increasingly pursuing different endgame strategies as funding levels improve, according to research from the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) and Schroders. The study revealed that while 45 per cent of schemes were targeting a buy-in or buyout within the next decade, a third expected to run on indefinitely, 18 per cent planned a limited period of run-on before moving to insurance, and 5 per cent selected a consolidator route. The PMI and Schroders UK Pension Scheme...

October 6, 2026
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September 2026
17Sep

US. Corporate Pension Funding Inches Up in August

Consulting firms reported relatively small increases to their pension funding ratios last month, which resulted in corporate defined benefit pension funds continuing to achieve new surplus milestones. The funded status of the 100 largest U.S. corporate defined benefit plans “inched ahead” to 112.2% in August, just 0.1 percentage points higher than July’s figure, according to Milliman Inc.’s Pension Funding Index. The market value of PFI plan assets rose by $5 billion due to August’s 0.92% investment return, greater than Milliman’s...

September 17, 2026
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14Sep

Ukraine Will Receive $841 Million from the World Bank for Pensions

Ukraine will soon receive $841 million from the World Bank. This money will help offset government expenditures on pension payments. According to him, the funding will be provided as part of the Peace in Ukraine project. The Canadian government will provide guarantees for these funds. “Ukraine will soon receive $841 million in budgetary support from the World Bank, backed by guarantees from the Canadian government,” Koretsky said. The funds received will not be directed directly to individual pension accounts. This...

September 14, 2026
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04Sep

Pensions from Capital: How Pension Funds in the United States, Japan and Europe Invest -and What Private Investors Can Learn from Them

By Roland Rupprechter This paper examines the pension funds of the large industrial countries — with more than USD 68 trillion between them, the heaviest group of investors in the world. It compares how funded retirement provision is organised in the United States, in Japan and in Europe: how state, occupational and private provision differ, who grants which tax advantages to whom and at what level, and why equity quotas diverge so widely across regions — from 25 per cent...

September 4, 2026
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August 2026
28Aug

Measuring the Fiscal Sustainability of Public Pensions

By National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems When budgets tighten and the economy falters, some states and localities have reacted to worries about pension funding ratios and unfunded liabilities by increasing employee contributions and cutting benefits. Some have even closed pension plans to new hires. Yet public pensions have a strong record of delivering retirement security efficiently: NCPERS’ 2025 update of its landmark economic impact study finds that public pensions generated $2.9 trillion in economic output and $661.9 billion in...

August 28, 2026
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25Aug

Look beyond funded ratios for hidden pension risks

Pension funding risk has evolved into a structural debt obligation — akin to an obligor's bonded indebtedness from a secondary credit consideration — having minimal impact on yield levels. Public pension fund risk assessment stands at the intersection of investment management practices and a municipal credit evaluation process for governments and revenue enterprises that prioritizes funding discipline and fiscal capacity. While funded ratios remain a key barometer of pension funding risk, they do not tell the full story. Beyond simply...

August 25, 2026
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21Aug

Multiemployer Pension Funding Study: Midyear 2026

By Tim Connor, Rex Barker, Timothy Herman & Nina Lantz The results in this study were derived from publicly available IRS Form 5500 data filed through June 2026 for all multiemployer DB plans, numbering around 1,200 plans. Data for a limited number of plans that clearly were erroneous was modified to ensure that the results were reasonable and a sufficiently complete representation of the multiemployer universe. Such adjustments were associated with an immaterial number of plans. Liability amounts were based on...

August 21, 2026
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17Aug

US. Milliman analysis: Multiemployer pensions’ aggregate funding level reaches 106% at midyear 2026, highest in study history

Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the midyear 2026 results of its Multiemployer Pension Funding Study (MPFS), an interim update to its annual study, which analyzes the funded status of all U.S. multiemployer defined benefit pension plans based on assumptions and data in the latest Form 5500 filings. As of June 30, 2026, Milliman estimates that the aggregate funded percentage of all multiemployer plans has reached 106%, up from 103% at year-end 2025. This is...

August 17, 2026
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11Aug

UK. DB scheme surplus rises to £271.3bn; funding ratio hits three-year high

The aggregate surplus of defined benefit (DB) schemes in the UK increased by £7.3bn during July to £271.3bn, as falling liabilities outweighed a decline in asset values, the latest figures from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) have shown. The PPF’s 7800 Index showed that the aggregate funding ratio rose by 1.9 percentage points from 131.1 per cent in June to 133 per cent, the highest level recorded since July 2023. Total scheme assets fell by 1.7 per cent during the month, from £1.113trn...

August 11, 2026
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