The de-risking activities that companies pursued in 2012 successfully reduced pension obligations for the top 100 U.S. pension plans. However, increased pension costs outstripped plan liability reductions, and the result for many plans was a drop in pension funded status from 2011. As year-end discount rates hit a record low of 4.02%, pension funding deficits for the companies tracked in the Milliman 2013 Pension Funding Study hit a record high of $388.8 billion.

This study covers the 100 U.S. public companies with the largest defined benefit pension assets for which a 2012 annual report was released by March 7, 2013.