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SEATTLE, April 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the results of its 2021 Corporate Pension Funding Study (PFS), which analyzes the 100 largest U.S. corporate pension plans. This marks the 21
st consecutive year in which the report has been published.
In 2020, despite a 67-basis-point decline in the discount rate, the funded ratio for the Milliman 100 plans climbed slightly, from 87.5% at fiscal year-end (FYE) 2019 to 88.4% at FYE 2020. The year-over-year improvement was the result of better-than-expected investment returns of 13.4%, leading to a PFS all-time-high in the market value of assets, at $1.77 trillion. After accounting for contributions and benefit payments including settlements, the total asset growth for the year was 9%.
Aggregate investment return of 11.72% wasn’t enough to counter falling interest rates.
Funding for the 100 largest corporate pension plans in the US declined $50 billion last year as their aggregate funding ratio slipped to 88.2% at the end of the year from 89.8% at the end of 2019, according to consulting firm Milliman.
After sharp investment declines in the first quarter, asset returns rebounded strongly during the rest of the year. That rebound helped offset the funded status deterioration that was a result of the discount rates used to value pension liabilities continuing to fall. The funded status deficit of the 100 plans tracked by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI) was at $234 billion at the end of December, which was the lowest monthly funded status deficit during the year.