The aggregate funded status of the 100 largest U.S. public pension funds rose to an estimated 70.7% as of June 30, up from 67.7% the previous year, said Milliman's most recent quarterly public pension funding study released Tuesday.
Boosted by strong market performance in late 2016 and early 2017, asset values rose an estimated 7.8% over the year to $3.44 trillion as of June 30, which outpaced an estimated 3.2% increase in liabilities to $4.87 trillion. The median annualized return on assets over the 12 months ended June 30 was 11.5%.
Of the 100 plans analyzed, nine had funding ratios above 90%, 59 were between 60% and 90%, and 32 were below 60%.