U.S. corporate defined benefit and defined contribution plans had combined assets of $5.457 trillion as of Dec. 31, 2009, up 3.8% from three months earlier, according to the Federal Reserve's Flow of Funds report issued Thursday.

Corporate defined benefit plan assets totaled about $2.121 trillion as of Dec. 31, up about 2.6% from the previous quarter. Total assets in corporate defined contribution plans were $3.336 trillion, up 4.6%.

In addition, total assets in state and local government retirement funds as of Dec. 31 were $2.673 trillion, up 3.3% since Sept. 30, while assets in the federal government's retirement funds totaled $1.324 trillion, up 5.9%.

Doug Halonen is a reporter for Pensions & Investments, a sister publication of Business Insurance.