U.S. corporate retirement plans had combined assets of $6.08 trillion as of Dec. 31, up 5.9% or $362.9 billion from the previous quarter, according to the Federal Reserve's Flow of Funds report issued Thursday.
Total assets in state and local government retirement funds were $2.847 trillion as of Dec. 31, up $185.9 billion, or 6.9%, from the previous quarter. The federal government's retirement fund assets totaled $1.509 trillion, up 5.7%, or $82 billion, from the previous quarter.
Fourth-quarter corporate pension assets were $17 billion lower than a year earlier. Assets reported include defined benefit and defined contribution plans, but not individual retirement accounts.
The value of equities in corporate pension plans rose 9.5% from the previous quarter to $1.878 trillion but were down 6.7% from a year earlier. The value of bonds increased 1.6% in the latest quarter to $520.9 billion and was up 7.7% from a year earlier.
Compared to fourth-quarter 2010 levels, state and local government assets were down 2.9%, but federal assets were up 5.6%.
