Funding Status of U.S. Pensions Tops 85 Percent at End of 2009

Propelled by rising stocks and an increase in the yields of long Aa corporate bonds, the funded status of the typical U.S. corporate pension plan in December increased 3.0 percentage points to 85.5 percent, the best funding ratio during the entire year, according to monthly figures published by BNY Mellon Asset Management.

Assets for the typical U.S. corporate pension plan rose 0.9 percent and liabilities declined 2.6 percent for the month, as reported by the BNY Mellon Pension Summary Report for December 2009. For the year through December 31, 2009, BNY Mellon reports the funding ratio for the typical U.S. corporate pension plan is up 11.6 percentage points.

  BNY Mellon