The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans improved by $3 billion during April, as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI). An increase in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates used to value pension liabilities led to a $10 billion decrease in these liabilities for the month. As of April 30, the funded ratio rose to 102.9%, from 102.7% at the end of March. April’s increase comes on the heels of an $11 billion funded status decline seen at the end of the first quarter of 2025.
The market value of plan assets fell by $8 billion during April because of a poor -0.12% monthly investment return. This caused the Milliman 100 PFI asset value to decrease to $1.250 trillion as of April 30, 2025, from $1.258 trillion as of March 31, 2025. By comparison, the Milliman 2025 Corporate Pension Funding Study reported that the monthly expected investment return for fiscal-year 2024 was 0.53% (6.53% annualized). The full results of the annual 2025 study can be found at www.milliman.com/pfs.
The Milliman 100 PFI projected benefit obligation decreased during April to $1.215 trillion, driven by a 7-basis-point rise in the monthly discount rate, to 5.57% for April from 5.50% in March.
Highlights
| $ BILLION | FUNDED PERCENTAGE | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MV | PBO | FUNDED STATUS | ||
| March | 1,258 | 1,225 | 33 | 102.7% |
| April | 1,250 | 1,215 | 36 | 102.9% |
| Monthly change | (8) | (10) | +3 | 0.2% |
| YTD Change | (14) | (5) | (9) | -0.7% |
Note: Numbers may not add up precisely due to rounding
Over the last 12 months (May 2024–April 2025), the cumulative asset return for these pensions has been 7.84%, yet the Milliman 100 PFI funded status position only improved by $2 billion, primarily due to discount rate decreases. Discount rates experienced a net decrease of 11 basis points during the period, to 5.57% from 5.68% one year ago. Meanwhile the funded ratio of the Milliman 100 companies improved over the past 12 months, to 102.9% from 102.7%.
PFI reconciliation
This month’s PFI publication reflects the annual update of the Milliman 100 companies and their 2024 financial figures included in the Milliman 2025 Corporate Pension Funding Study.1 The revised pension obligation as of December 31, 2024, was $20 billion lower than we had previously projected, and the actual PFI asset value was $34 billion lower, after accounting for several factors: actual investment gains that were lower than projected, lump-sum window settlements, and pension risk transfers (de-risking activities) as of year-end 2024. Results also reflect updates to the companies comprising the Milliman 100.
The net adjustments introduced by the Milliman 2025 Corporate Pension Funding Study led to a funded status decline of $14 billion and a corresponding decrease to the funded ratio, bringing it from 104.8% to 103.6% as of December 31, 2024.
Figure 1: Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index — Pension surplus/deficit
Figure 2: Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index — Pension funded ratio
2025-2026 projections
If the Milliman 100 PFI companies were to achieve the expected 6.53% median asset return (as per the 2025 PFS), and if the current discount rate of 5.57% remains unchanged throughout 2025 and 2026, we forecast that the funded status of the surveyed plans would increase. The pension surplus is projected to be $47 billion (funded ratio of 103.9%) by the end of 2025 and $65 billion (funded ratio of 105.4%) by the end of 2026. For purposes of this forecast, we have assumed 2025 and 2026 aggregate annual contributions of $20 billion.
Under an optimistic forecast with rising interest rates (reaching 5.97% by the end of 2025 and 6.57% by the end of 2026) and annual asset returns of 10.53%, the funded ratio is projected to climb to 111% by the end of 2025 and 125% by the end of 2026. Under a pessimistic forecast with similar interest rate and asset movements (5.17% discount rate at the end of 2025 and 4.57% by the end of 2026 and 2.53% annual asset returns), the funded ratio is projected to decline to 97% by the end of 2025 and 88% by the end of 2026.
Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index - May 2025 (all dollar amounts in millions)
Pension asset and liability returns
About the Milliman 100 monthly Pension Funding Index
For the past 25 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 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 2024 fiscal year and for previous fiscal years. This pension plan accounting disclosure information was summarized as part of the Milliman 2025 Pension Funding Study, which was published on April 30, 2025. 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 different funding standards than those for U.S. qualified pension plans. They do not represent the funded status of the companies’ U.S. qualified pension plans under ERISA.
1 There are also differences in methodology between the results reported in our annual study versus our projected monthly index, so a match is not expected. The annual PFS funded ratio aggregates plans with different fiscal-year-ending dates and different discount rates, whereas the monthly PFI makes normalizing adjustments to approximate the values of all 100 companies as of the same measurement date using the same average discount rate.