June 2026
12Jun

France faces deeper pension deficit as population ages

France is on track to run a larger-than-expected pension deficit from 2045 as falling birth rates and an ageing population put increasing pressure on the country's retirement system, according to the body that monitors its sustainability. The French Pensions Advisory Council said a recent downward revision to the fertility rate had worsened the outlook, with the gap between contributions and pension payments now expected to reach 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2070. Falling birth rate worsens outlook The updated forecast was based...

June 12, 2026
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May 2026
29May

Global Pensions at a Glance

The availability of pension fund income to retirees in a country is one indicator of how much people can spend in retirement. Countries dominated by defined contribution plan retirement systems continue to work on how best to convert retirement savings into retirement income and research shows that when people are not confident about income in retirement, spending slows. In a global consumption-based economy, the amount consumers can spend will drive economic activity and demographics will determine how many consumers are...

May 29, 2026
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22May

Investment Decisions of Defined Benefit Pension Plans

By Zhichuan Frank Li, Jun Wang & Yuqi Zhang This paper examines the determinants of defined benefit (DB) pension plan investment decisions of U.S. corporations with the largest 100 DB plans (Milliman 100 companies). We test two contradicting theories on DB plans. The risk-management theory indicates that firms tend to reduce risk in their pension investments when facing high risk, and the risk-shifting theory predicts the opposite because the funds’ downside risk is hedged by federal government insurance. We find...

May 22, 2026
Articles, Investment, System Sustainability, , , , ,
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April 2026
21Apr

US. Pension surplus era reshapes strategy as corporate plans rethink risk and returns

US corporate pension plans are entering 2026 in a position of strength, but that progress is reshaping, not simplifying, decision-making. A new report from BlackRock finds average funded ratios for defined benefit plans have reached roughly 108%, up sharply from about 87% in 2018. With many plans now overfunded, sponsors are shifting focus from closing deficits to preserving gains and determining how best to deploy surplus assets. That shift is altering long-standing investment approaches, particularly around liability-driven investing. While LDI allocations expanded significantly...

April 21, 2026
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08Apr

US. Milliman analysis: March market declines end 11-month streak of corporate pension funding improvements

Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the results of its Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI), which analyzes the 100 largest U.S. corporate pension plans. During March, investment returns of -3.33% caused PFI plan assets to fall to $1.298 trillion. Meanwhile, a 32-basis-point increase in monthly discount rates, to 5.65%, caused liabilities to fall to $1.192 trillion. The funded ratio slipped from 109.3% as of February 28 to 108.9% as of March 31. Still, the...

April 8, 2026
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March 2026
20Mar

Employee Satisfaction and Pension Shortfall Risk

By Annita Florou, Meng Li, Peter F. Pope & Nipat Puangjampa Defined benefit (DB) pension plans are important to employee welfare. However, they carry risk as they are subject to minimum funding requirements. We examine the effect of a relaxation in pension funding rules on employee satisfaction by exploiting the adoption of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). We find that employees of DB firms are less satisfied with their firms and their senior managers, after...

March 20, 2026
Articles, Pension design, , , ,
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17Mar

US. How every state’s public pension system ranks

Reason Foundation’s 2025 Pension Solvency and Performance Report ranks every state’s pension system across five dimensions—funded status, investment performance, contribution adequacy, asset allocation risk, and the probability of meeting assumed returns—based on the latest fiscal year data from nearly every major plan in the country. The sections below summarize the strongest and weakest performers in each category. For each state, the results reflect the aggregate values of its major pension systems, including plans administered at both the state and local...

March 17, 2026
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06Mar

Estimated funded status of 100 largest U.S. DB pension plans reaches 84.7%: report

The funded status of the 100 largest U.S. defined benefit pension plans is projected to have reached 84.7 per cent as of Nov. 30, 2025, according to a new report by Milliman Inc. It noted the last time these plans reached similar heights was in December 2021, when the funded ratio reached 85.5 per cent, a high-water mark in the nearly 14-year history of the report. The report also found aggregate assets reached US$5.05 trillion and total pension liability was $6.50...

March 6, 2026
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February 2026
18Feb

Pension Funding Ratios Build on 2025 Gains in January

Pension finances started 2026 strong, as the funded status of the largest 100 corporate defined benefit plans rose to 109% in January from 108.1% at year-end 2025, according to Milliman’s Pension Funding Index. January’s rise built on gains made in the last three quarters of 2025. Milliman’s PFI showed funding dipped to its lowest point of last year in March 2025 (102.7%) before increasing for 10 consecutive months to reach its current level. Both model plans tracked by October Three Consulting...

February 18, 2026
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January 2026
09Jan

Pension Economics

By Torben M Andersen A coherent introduction to the economics of pensions is provided to give the reader insights in the many objectives addressed by pension systems and the design possibilities available. The text offers an in-depth overview of the literature and its main insights and conclusions with sufficient rigor to understand the basic mechanisms, but without excessive technical details, focusing on the intuition and implications of the results. The pros and cons of different pension schemes are discussed from...

January 9, 2026
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