U.S. pension plans had $14.28 billion in assets as of Dec. 31 and liabilities of $16.7 billion, for a funding ratio of 85.5%. At year-end 2016, the plans had assets of $12.56 billion and liabilities of $15.55 billion, for a funding ratio of 80.8%.
International pension plans had $8.86 billion in assets as of year-end 2017 and liabilities of $10.61 billion, for a funding ratio of 83.5%, up from 79.3% the year before.
For U.S. pension plans, fixed-income securities accounted for 39.6% of total plan assets, while equity securities represented 37.5%. "Other" investments made up 18.3% of total plan assets, and cash and cash equivalents accounted for 4.6%. At the end of 2016, the asset allocation for U.S. plans was 40.1% equity, 34.9% fixed income, 19.7% other, and 5.3% cash and cash equivalents.
For international pension plans, fixed income accounted for 39.7% of total plan assets as of Dec. 31, equity represented 34.4%, other investments 21.9%, and cash and cash equivalents 4.3%. A year earlier, the asset allocation was 40.2% fixed income, 34.7% equity, 19.4% other, and 5.7% cash and cash equivalents.
The discount rate for U.S. plans was 3.8% last year vs. 4.3% in 2016. The discount rate for international plans was 2.3% last year vs. 2.4% in 2016.
