Milliman Analysis: Bad Year for Pensions Ends Badly

Milliman Analysis: Bad Year for Pensions Ends Badly

SEATTLE, Jan. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Milliman, Inc., a premier global

consulting and actuarial firm, today released the results of its

latest Pension Funding Index, which consists of 100 of the nation's

largest defined benefit pension plans. In December, these pensions

epitomized the poor performance of 2011, experiencing a $59.7 billion

decrease in pension funded status. The bad month cemented a bad year,

leaving these 100 pensions with a $236.4 billion increased deficit as

corporate pensions faced record underfunding.

"This was an unusually dispiriting year for these 100 pensions," said

John Ehrhardt, co-author of the Milliman Pension Funding Study.

"Assets treaded water this year, producing an anemic $12.3 billion

increase in value as record-low interest rates increased pension

liabilities by $248.7 billion."

The full implications of this bad year have yet to be determined and

will be illustrated in detail by the 2012 Milliman Pension Funding

Study, due out in the spring of 2012.

While 2011 was a bad year, the year-end 72.4% funded ratio still could

not eclipse the record of 70.5% set in May 2003.

To view the complete study, go to http://ow.ly/4xFIt. To receive

regular updates of Milliman's pension funding analysis, contact us at

pensionfunding@milliman.com.

About Milliman

Milliman is among the world's largest independent actuarial and

consulting firms. Founded in 1947 as Milliman & Robertson, the

company currently has 54 offices in key locations worldwide. Milliman

employs over 2,500 people. The firm has consulting practices in

healthcare, employee benefits, property & casualty insurance, life

insurance and financial services. Milliman serves the full spectrum

of business, financial, government, union, education and nonprofit

organizations. For further information, visit http://www.milliman.com

About the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index

For the past 11 years, Milliman has conducted an annual study of the

100 largest defined benefit pension plans sponsored by U.S. public

companies. The Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index projects the funded

status for pension plans included in our study, reflecting the monthly

impact of market returns and interest-rate changes on pension funded

status, utilizing the actual reported asset values, liabilities, and

asset allocations of the companies' pension plans.

The results of the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index were based on

the actual pension plan accounting information disclosed in the

footnotes to the companies' annual reports for the preceding fiscal

year and for previous fiscal years. In addition to providing the

financial information on the funded status of U.S. qualified pension

plans, the footnotes may also include figures for the companies'

nonqualified and foreign plans, both of which are often unfunded or

subject to funding standards different from those for U.S. qualified

pension plans. The results do not represent the funded status of the

companies' U.S. qualified pension plans under ERISA.

SOURCE Milliman, Inc.

-0- 01/06/2012

/CONTACT: John Ehrhardt, Milliman, Inc., +1-646-473-3300, john.ehrhardt@milliman.com

/Web Site: http://www.milliman.com

CO: Milliman, Inc.

ST: Washington

IN: FIN WRK

SU: SVY

PRN

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