July 2025
29Jul

US. Full Funding: Good News, But Now What?

Pension plan funding levels have been high for a number of years. Fully funded high, and then some. That’s good news, of course. But that raises a question: “Now what?” Industry experts in a July 23 P&I Online webinar discussed steps that a plan sponsor, and the service providers it enlists, can and may want to take once a plan reaches full funding levels or more. Panelists included Mark Tavares, Partner and Lead of Corporate Defined Benefit Solutions at Aon;...

July 29, 2025
News,
Read more...
15Jul

Funded Status of U.S. Corporate Pension Plans Rose Again in June

Strong investment returns for both equities and bonds drove pension fund investments higher and funding levels for U.S. corporate pensions improved in June for the third consecutive month. The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans increased to 105.1% from 104.9% and improved by $3 billion in the month, according to Milliman’s June Pension Funding Index. In May, a decrease in liabilities, due to higher bond yields, drove up pension funding. In June, “liabilities actually increased because...

July 15, 2025
News,
Read more...

June 2025
20Jun

Milliman analysis: Competitive pension risk transfer cost decreases to 100.8% during May

Milliman analysis: Competitive pension risk transfer cost decreases to 100.8% during May Competitive bidding process saves about 3.6% of buyout costs as of May 31 Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today announced the latest results of its Milliman Pension Buyout Index (MPBI). During May, the estimated cost to transfer retiree pension risk to an insurer in a competitive bidding process dropped from 101.1% to 100.8% of a plan’s accounting liabilities (accumulated benefit obligation, or ABO). That means the...

June 20, 2025
News,
Read more...
17Jun

US. Largest Corporate Pension Plans Add $22B in May

U.S. corporate pension funds continued to recover in May, as higher bond yields drove down plan liabilities, and pension assets increased. The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans increased by nearly $22 billion in May, according to Milliman. The funded ratio of the DB plans rose to 104.9% from 103%. The increase erased the losses from a rocky first quarter of the year, bringing the funded status above 103.6%, where it started 2025. Pensions assets increased...

June 17, 2025
News, ,
Read more...
12Jun

Half of DB Sponsors Plan to Stay in the ‘Pension Ecosystem’

Fewer defined benefit plan sponsors are considering terminating their pension funds as other risk management strategies such as plan design changes or limited risk transfers appear more attractive. Fully half of plan sponsors do not intend to terminate their DB plans, up from 36.7% in 2023 and 28.3% in 2021, according to Mercer’s 2025 CFO Survey, shared in a webinar on Wednesday. The survey is based on responses from 173 chief financial officers and senior finance executives. “A lot of the plans...

June 12, 2025
News,
Read more...
02Jun

US. Milliman analysis: Public pension funding stable in April after plans end volatile month with slight market gain

Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the latest results of its Public Pension Funding Index (PPFI), which analyzes data from the nation’s 100 largest public defined benefit plans. Despite April market swings caused by trade and tariff uncertainty, the Milliman 100 PPFI plans closed the month with estimated investment gains of 0.4% in aggregate. Individual plans’ estimated returns ranged from -1.8% to 1.4%. Combined, the plans added about $24 billion in market value during the...

June 2, 2025
News, ,
Read more...

May 2025
09May

The Purple Book 2024. DB pensions universe risk profile

By Pension Protection Fund The Purple Book, also known as the Pensions Universe Risk Profile, highlights trends in DB scheme funding, demographics and asset allocation. It provides us with an in-depth understanding of the risks we face from the universe of schemes we protect. The 19th edition of the Purple Book shows the strong net funding position of the universe of DB pension schemes has remained largely stable over the past year. For this year’s Purple Book, we’ve used an enhanced roll-forward...

May 9, 2025
Books, Books, Reports, System Characterization, , , , ,
Read more...
07May

Largest 100 Corporate Pension Plans See Strong Increases in Funding Surplus

The largest U.S. corporate pension funds had a collective funding surplus last year for the first time since 2007, according to Milliman’s 2025 Corporate Pension Funding Study. Funding ratios of the Milliman 100 rose to 101.1% in fiscal year 2024, up from 98.5% in 2023. This is the first time these companies have had an average funding surplus since 2007, when that figure stood at 106%, before falling to 79% during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. In fiscal 24,...

May 7, 2025
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...

March 2025
14Mar

Pension Funding Index February 2025

By Zorast Wadia The funded status of the 100 largest U.S. corporate defined benefit pension plans increased by $12 billion during January, as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI). The funding surplus improved to $71 billion as a result of liability decreases and investment returns that surpassed expectations. Pension liabilities fell during the month due to a small increase in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates used to value those liabilities. As of January 31, the PFI...

March 14, 2025
Articles, System Characterization, , ,
Read more...
13Mar

US. Corporate Pension Funding Ratios Decline Amid Weak Market Returns

  Corporate pension plans over the past year have seen their funding surpluses increase significantly, as strong market returns and heightened interest rates consistently improved the health of corporate pension finances. However, in February, corporate pension funding ratios declined, a result of both weak equity returns and an increase in the value of pension plan liabilities, breaking a three-to-four-month streak of month-over-month increases. Funded Status Declines Investment consultant Wilshire estimated that the funded status of corporate U.S. pension plans in the S&P 500...

March 13, 2025
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...