Largest pension plans logged undramatic 2015

The funded status of very large pension plans sponsored by public companies slipped in December but ended up slightly higher at year-end 2015 compared with a year earlier, according to a Milliman Inc. survey released Wednesday.

Defined benefit plans offered by U.S. employers with the 100 largest pension programs were an average of 82.7% funded as of Dec. 31, down from 83.3% as of Nov. 30, but slightly higher than Dec. 31, 2014, when plans were an average of 81.5% funded.

“The good news is that the pension funded status improved in 2015. The bad news is that this improvement was underwhelming and we’re basically in the same place we were a year ago, despite cooperative interest rates,” Zorast Wadia, a Milliman principal and consulting actuary in New York, said in a statement.

The funded status of plans moved up and down during 2015, a function of changes in interest rates and equity market performance. In 2015, plan funding on a monthly basis was highest at 85.5% as of June 30, and the lowest at 77.5% as of Jan. 31.

At the end of December, the plans had $1.410 trillion in assets and $1.705 trillion in liabilities, resulting in a funding deficit of around $295 billion and a decrease of about $35 billion compared with Dec. 31, 2014.