May 2024
09May

US. Corporate pension funding surpluses remain high in April – 3 reports

U.S. corporate pension fund surpluses remained high in April despite negative market returns for the month, according to three new reports. Wilshire Advisors estimated the aggregate funding ratio of U.S. corporate plans reached 110.8% as of April 30, an increase of 1.1 percentage points above the 109.7% funding ratio estimated as of March 31. "April’s funded status increase resulted from the increase in Treasury yields, which led to the largest monthly decline in liability values since September 2022. Corporate bond yields,...

May 9, 2024
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April 2024
26Apr

2024 Corporate Pension Funding Study

By Zorast Wadia & Alan Perry The 2024 edition of the Milliman Corporate Pension Funding Study (PFS) is our 24th annual analysis of the financial disclosures of the 100 U.S. public companies sponsoring the largest defined benefit (DB) pension plans. These 100 companies are ranked highest to lowest by the value of their pension assets as of the end of fiscal year (FY) 2023. These values have been reported to the public, to shareholders, and to the U.S. federal agencies...

April 26, 2024
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25Apr

U.S. corporate pension funding remains near 100% in 2023 — Milliman

U.S. corporate pension plan funding ratios fell slightly to 98.5% in 2023 due to falling discount rates, according to Milliman’s annual Corporate Pension Funding Study. The study of the 100 U.S. public companies with the largest defined benefit plans showed that the average funding ratio fell from 99.4% a year earlier due to a 17-basis-point decline in the average discount rate to 5.01% from 5.18% at the end of 2022. The study also showed that 48 of the top 100 plans...

April 25, 2024
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19Apr

Strength in Diversity: What We Can Learn from BC’s Target-benefit Plans

By Barry Gros With the significant decline in single-employer defined-benefit (DB) pension plans in the private sector, it’s important to understand other alternatives. One such alternative is the target-benefit plan. The regulation of target-benefit plans (TBPs) in all provinces across Canada can be made more straightforward and effective using lessons learned from real-life experiences. With target-benefit plans currently being more prominent in the province of British Columbia than any other province, it is useful to take a closer look at these...

April 19, 2024
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15Apr

US. CWA Union Fights Back Against So-Called Pension De-Risking

Before its bankruptcy in 1991, Executive Life Insurance Company accepted transfer contracts from companies to pay their retirees’ pensions instead of the companies defined benefit pension plan. Employers saved money in the transfer because Executive Life offered high interest rates — which were discovered later to be backed by junk bonds – and because their retirees lost Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) protection when the companies stopped paying PBGC premiums. Retirees from RJ Reynolds, Pacific Lumber suffered significant cuts in pensions...

April 15, 2024
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10Apr

US. People want pensions to make a comeback. Will they?

It’s financially challenging to comfortably retire in the U.S. and many Americans work, without necessarily “wanting” to, well into their golden years. Though not being able to save enough for a secure retirement isn’t a particularly new crisis, the struggle has become more widespread in recent decades. One of the factors fueling the problem is the mass decline of the traditional pension plan. Americans want pension plans to make a comeback. According to a recent report from the National Institute for Retirement Security, 83%...

April 10, 2024
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05Apr

2023 Corporate Pension Funding Study

By Zorast Wadia, Alan H. Perry & Richard J. Botelli Jr The 2023 edition of the Milliman Corporate Pension Funding Study (PFS) is our 23rd annual analysis of the financial disclosures of the 100 U.S. public companies sponsoring the largest defined benefit (DB) pension plans. These 100 companies are ranked highest to lowest by the value of their pension assets as of the end of fiscal year (FY) 2022. These values have been reported to the public, to shareholders, and to...

April 5, 2024
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05Apr

U.S. corporate pension fund surpluses climb higher in March — 3 reports

U.S. corporate pension fund surpluses continued to climb in March, according to three new reports. Wilshire Advisors estimated the aggregate funding ratio of U.S. corporate plans reached 110.1% as of March 31, an increase of a full percentage point above the 109.1% funding ratio estimated as of Feb. 29. "March's increase in funded status was driven by the continued increase in asset value with most asset classes posting positive monthly performances, highlighted by the FT Wilshire 5000 index, which has now...

April 5, 2024
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02Apr

UK. Pensions dashboard deadline confirmed

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published its pension dashboard guidance, revealing that the new deadline for pension firms to provide a connected service is due to fall on 31 October 2026. First mooted in 2016, the pensions dashboard scheme seeks to provide a single touchpoint for people to find and interact with their state, employer and private pensions. The new guidance, published in late March 2024, sets out a staged timetable for pension schemes to connect to the...

April 2, 2024
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02Apr

US. Unisys Announces $200M Pension Risk Transfer

IT technology company Unisys Corp. announced Monday it has closed an agreement with F&G Annuities & Life Inc. to purchase group annuity contracts. The agreement, which closed on March 28, will see Unisys transfer $200 million in pension liabilities from its U.S. defined benefit plan to the insurer. F&G will assume responsibility for paying out pension benefits to 3,800 Unisys retirees and beneficiaries. Notably, this is the sixth Unisys pension risk transfer transaction since January 2021, and it has contracted...

April 2, 2024
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