The estimated funded status of the 100 largest U.S. public pension plans dropped from 72.9% at the end of September to 67.2% at the end of December as measured by the Milliman 100 Public Pension Funding Index (PPFI). At the end of December, the deficit stands at $1.693 trillion, compared to $1.387 trillion at the end of September. The $306 billion decrease in the funded status for the fourth quarter was the largest quarterly decrease since the PPFI began in September 2016. In aggregate, the PPFI plans experienced investment returns of -6.39% in the fourth quarter.