The funding ratio for the typical U.S. corporate pension plan decreased 0.8 percentage points in April to 86%, according to a report from Wilshire Consulting.
The decline was driven by a rise in liabilities, which increased 1.8% during the month.
Since Jan. 1, the funding ratio has decreased 3.9 percentage points to 86% from 89.9%.
Asset values increased 0.8% this month with international equity and long-duration fixed income performing especially well, said Jeff Leonard, managing director at Wilshire Associates and head of the actuarial services group of Wilshire Consulting.
“These numbers (assets and liabilities) tend to bounce around a little bit, but year-to-date liabilities have crept up every month,” Mr. Leonard said in a telephone interview. “The concern from a plan sponsor's perspective is that liabilities have increased as rates have gone down.”
The typical pension fund, as studied by Wilshire, has an asset allocation of 33% domestic equity, 26% long-duration fixed income, 22% international equity, 17% core fixed income and 2% real estate. Wilshire uses data of S&P 500 company pension funds derived from corporate filings to create the model plan.
