Aon to contribute $385 million to its worldwide pension funds in 2014

Aon PLC, London, said it plans to contribute $385 million to its worldwide pension funds in 2014, down significantly from $523 million in 2013 and $638 million the year before that.

At its annual shareholder meeting, the firm also estimated it will contribute an average of $270 million ($1.08 billion total) to its worldwide pension funds between 2015 and 2018.

As of Dec. 31 the company had $5.4 billion in U.K. defined benefit assets with a funding ratio of 105.7%.

U.S. DB assets totaled $1.9 billion (67.6% funded) and “other” worldwide assets totaled $1.1 billion (84.7% funded).

The asset allocation for its U.K. pension funds was 60.2% fixed income, 19% equities, 10.3% cash, 10.1% alternatives and 0.4% real estate.

The U.S. DB allocation was 50.8% equities, 28.5% fixed income, 14.3% alternatives, 2.9% cash, 2.7% real estate and REITs, and 0.8% commodity derivatives. Based on its allocation, the firm says its U.S. plan expects to generate an 8.8% annual return.