Pension Plans Held Steady in May, Says Study

Pension plans largely held steady in May, with assets and liabilities growing slightly, says a recent report.

The report, by the consultant firm October Three, is based on the performance of two model pension plans; one a traditional plan, the other a cash balance plan whose investments are largely in corporate and long-duration bonds. Their performance is measured using actual stock market and bond performance, as well as interest rate changes.

The report says that for both, plan assets and liabilities each grew by 1% in May. That is the overall result for the cash balance plan for the first five months of 2017, but the traditional plan is 2%-3% ahead.

Assets and liabilities have grown for both models, the report says, but assets’ growth has been greater. The portfolio for the traditional plan is up 6%-7% for 2017 so far, while that plan’s liabilities are 3%-5% higher. For the cash balance plan, assets are up 4% for the year so far, with liabilities up almost that much.

October Three attributes asset growth to the strong performance of the stock market, and the growth of liabilities to lower interest rates.