Pension Funding Index, April 2011
09 April 2011
According to the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index, the funded status of the 100 largest U.S. corporate defined benefit pension plans improved by $16 billion in March 2011, with the funding deficit declining to $172 billion from $188 billion at the end of February 2011.
The improvement was due primarily to an increase in corporate bond interest rates. The funded ratio climbed to 87.8%, up from 86.8% at the end of February 2011. The last time the funded status was this high was prior to November 2008.