The aggregate funded ratio for US corporate pension plans increased by 0.8 percentage points to end the month of July at 76.3 per cent, narrowing its year-to-date decline to 5.1 percentage points, according to Wilshire Consulting.
The monthly change in funding resulted from a strong 2.9 per cent rise in asset values that was partially offset by a 1.9 per cent increase in liability values. The year-to-date decrease in funding is the result of a nearly 14 per cent increase in liability values.
“Asset values increased in July due to positive returns for most asset classes,” says Ned McGuire (pictured), vice president and a member of the Pension Risk Solutions Group of Wilshire Consulting. “The Wilshire 5000 Total Market IndexSM gained 3.9 per cent during the month. Falling corporate bond yields used to value pension liabilities increased liability values by 1.9 per cent in July.”
