The funded status of defined benefit plans surveyed by Watson Wyatt...

The funded status of defined benefit plans surveyed by Watson Wyatt Worldwide dropped to a 10-year low in 2001. Only 69% of respondents in Watson Wyatt’s recent survey of 384 plan sponsors, each with 1,000 or more employees, reported that their plan assets are greater than total accrued liabilities, down from 82% in 2000. The percentage of plans with assets exceeding pension liabilities peaked at 85% in 1991, according to the survey.