Milliman launches pension funding index

Milliman Inc. on Wednesday unveiled its first pension funding index, based on its research and analysis of the 100 largest defined benefit plans of publicly traded companies. The Milliman 100 Monthly Pension Funding index is based on data from the companies found in regulatory filings and annual reports. John Ehrhardt, a principal and consulting actuary at Milliman, said at a news conference that the firm will project the index level every month based on benchmark returns of equities, fixed income and other asset classes. The monthly calculations will be made using the annual asset allocations that the 100 companies report in their annual regulatory filings.