The funded status of a typical U.S. pension plan improved by 1.8 percentage points last month, according to Mellon Financial.
Assets of a moderate-risk pension portfolio increased 2.7% while the value of typical pension liabilities rose 0.9%.
“The slight rise in liabilities was driven by a decline in long maturity interest rates, which fell four basis points during the month,” says Peter Austin, executive director of Mellon Pension Services. “Lower yields increase the value of bonds and pension liabilities. However, the activity in the bond market was overshadowed by the rise in assets that resulted from rising stock markets.”
For the first four months of the year, the funded status of a typical U.S. pension plan improved 3.5 percentage points as moderate-risk assets rose 4.4% versus a 0.9% increase in liabilities.
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