Eli Lilly & Co. Inc., Indianapolis, plans to contribute about $310 million to its global defined benefit plans in 2015, of which about $40 million is required to meet minimum funding requirements for the year, the company said in a 10-K filing Thursday.
The company contributed $429 million to its global pension funds last year.
The pension funds had $9.84 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, up 3.7% from a year earlier.
The plans' funded status was 78% as of Dec. 31, down from 95% a year earlier. Officials at Lilly could not be reached to comment on the decline.
The plan's discount rate was 4% in 2014, down from 4.9% in 2013, according to the 10-K.
Lilly increased its pension funds' investments in hedge funds and fixed income in 2014 while reducing international equity. As of Dec. 31, the pension funds' allocation was 33.3% hedge funds, up from 30.6% the previous year; 23.8% international equity, down from 26.2%; 16.3% fixed income, up from 15%; 11.7% private equity, up from 11.3%; 5.8% real estate, up from 5.5%; 4.2% in U.S. equities, unchanged from 2013; and 4.9% other investments, vs. 7.2%.
According to the 10-K, 80% of Lilly's global pension assets are in its U.S. and Puerto Rico pension funds.
