May 2025
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
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02May

How Companies With Frozen, Overfunded Pensions Approach the Future

Corporate pension funding surpluses are higher than they have been in more than a decade. Large surpluses are leading corporate pension plan sponsors to take a risk-on approach to their portfolios and evaluate options for the future of their plans. “We’ve hit the record high funded ratio since the [liability-driven investing] era,” says Jeff Passmore, lead LDI strategist at MetLife Investment Management. “We hit 107.2% funded intra-quarter—that was February 17.” According to Milliman, in 2024, about 34 U.S. companies had frozen pension plans with surplus...

May 2, 2025
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April 2025
02Apr

South Korea. Low birth rate’s far-reaching impact: Sustainability of teacher pensions under threat

The impact of South Korea’s demographic crisis is far-reaching, with one lesser-known consequence being the threat to the sustainability of the teachers' pension system. As the school-age population shrinks and schools close, teachers are losing their jobs and becoming legally eligible for pension payouts much earlier than expected — sometimes as early as their 30s. According to data released by the National Assembly Budget Office, 410 pension recipients became eligible prematurely due to school closures as of 2024. Among them, individuals...

April 2, 2025
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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
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14Mar

Greece. BoG: The value of occupational pension fund assets increased by €80 million

The total value of Occupational Pension Fund (hereafter referred to as “Funds“) assets increased by €80 million compared to the previous quarter, reaching €2.508 billion at the end of Q4 2024. More specifically, the total deposits of the Funds saw a €7 million increase, reaching €73 million at the end of Q4 2024. The proportion of deposits in relation to total assets stood at 2.9%, compared to 2.7% in the previous quarter. The value of total investments in debt securities rose to €1.123 billion at the end of Q4 2024, up from €1.108 billion in the previous quarter....

March 14, 2025
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February 2025
21Feb

Multiemployer Pension Funding Study: Year-end 2024

By Tim Connor,Timothy Herman,Rex Barker & Nina Lantz The amounts in Figure 1 reflect the $70 billion in SFA granted to 97 plans that received the funds by December 31, 2024, including $16 billion paid during 2024. Without the SFA program, the aggregate funded percentage would be approximately 89%. The liabilities in Figure 1 are projected using discount rates equal to each plan’s actuarial assumed return on assets. Assumed returns generally fall between 6.0% and 8.0%, with a weighted average interest...

February 21, 2025
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21Feb

US. Milliman analysis: Multiemployer pensions approach 100% funding in aggregate at year-end 2024

Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the 2024 year-end results of its Multiemployer Pension Funding Study (MPFS), which analyzes the funded status of all U.S. multiemployer defined benefit pension plans based on assumptions and data in their latest Form 5500 filings. “Strong returns during the first and third quarters of 2024 largely drove the year’s significant rise in the aggregate funded percentage, which reached the second-highest point since Milliman launched this study in 2007” Post this As...

February 21, 2025
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20Feb

UPS to deliver $1.2 billion to U.S. pension plans in 2025

United Parcel Service Inc., Atlanta, plans to contribute $1.2 billion to its U.S. pension plans in 2025. The shipping company disclosed its plans in its Feb. 18 10-K filing with the SEC. UPS previously contributed $1.2 billion each to the U.S. pension plans in 2024 and 2023 and $2 billion to the plans in 2022. In 2024, UPS hired Goldman Sachs Asset Management to provide outsourced CIO services for its U.S. pension plans. As of Sept. 30, UPS’ team of 22 investment...

February 20, 2025
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07Feb

U.S. corporate funding surpluses rise in January — Wilshire and LGIMA

U.S. corporate pension funding surpluses vaulted higher in January, thanks to a strong month of returns across global equities, according to estimates from Wilshire Advisors and Legal & General Investment Management America. First, Wilshire estimated the aggregate funding ratio of U.S. corporate plans reached 105.4% as of Jan. 31, an increase of 1.8 percentage points from the firm's updated 103.6% funding ratio as of Dec. 31. Ned McGuire, managing director at Wilshire, said in a news release Feb. 5 that the...

February 7, 2025
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07Feb

UK. Pensions industry could save members ‘millions’ in private market fees, report finds

The UK workplace pension industry could have the opportunity to save "hundreds of millions of pounds" for savers when it comes to investing in private markets, a report from The People’s Pension has suggested. The paper found that while there are nearly £1bn in potential fee savings available, no master trust currently has the scale to fully take advantage, which aligns with the government's own recent calculations, which suggested that investing in private markets delivers little additional value at current...

February 7, 2025
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