The funded status of the 100 largest U.S. corporate defined benefit pension plans improved by $23 billion during April, as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI). The funded ratio increased from 105.9% at the end of March to 107.8% at the end of April, driven primarily by strong investment returns. Meanwhile, pension liabilities fell during the month after a small increase in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates. The funded ratio at the end of April is the highest since the 108.1% mark observed at the end of October 2007.
The market value of PFI plan assets rose by $20 billion during April thanks to robust monthly investment returns of 2.13%. The Milliman 100 PFI asset value increased to $1.297 trillion as of April 30, 2026, from $1.277 trillion as of March 31, 2026. By comparison, the monthly expected investment return during 2025 was 0.53% (6.61% annualized), as reported in the 2026 Milliman Pension Funding Study (PFS).
The Milliman 100 PFI projected benefit obligation decreased during April to $1.204 trillion. This was due to a 1-basis-point increase in the monthly discount rate, from 5.65% in March to 5.66% for April.
Over the last 12 months (May 2025–April 2026), the cumulative asset return for these pensions has been 11.31% and the Milliman 100 PFI funded status position has improved by $67 billion. The funded status increase was primarily due to strong investment performance. Discount rates also experienced a net increase of 9 basis points, up to 5.66% from 5.57% one year ago. The funded ratio of the Milliman 100 companies improved over the past 12 months, from 102.2% to 107.8%.
Highlights
| $ BILLION | FUNDED PERCENTAGE | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MV | PBO | FUNDED STATUS | ||
| March | 1,277 | 1,206 | 71 | 105.9% |
| April | 1,297 | 1,204 | 94 | 107.8% |
| Monthly change | +20 | (3) | +23 | 1.9% |
| YTD Change | (4) | (27) | +23 | 2.0% |
Note: Numbers may not add up precisely due to rounding
PFI reconciliation
This May PFI publication reflects the annual update of the Milliman 100 companies and their 2025 financial figures included in the 2026 Milliman PFS.1 The revised December 31, 2025, pension obligation was $11 billion higher and the actual PFI asset value was $18 billion lower than we had previously projected; we made these revisions after accounting for actual investment gains that were lower than projected, lump-sum-window settlements, and pension risk transfers (de-risking activities) as of year-end 2025. We also factored in updates to account for new and exiting companies making up the Milliman 100.
The net adjustments introduced by the 2026 Milliman PFS led to a funded status decline of $29 billion and a corresponding decrease to the funded ratio, bringing it from 108.2% to 105.8% as of December 31, 2025.
Figure 1: Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index — Pension surplus/deficit
Figure 2: Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index — Pension funded ratio
2026-2027 projections
If the Milliman 100 PFI companies were to achieve the expected 6.61% asset return (as per the 2026 PFS), and if the current discount rate of 5.66% remains unchanged throughout 2026 and 2027, we forecast that the funded status of the surveyed plans will increase. The pension surplus is projected to be $102 billion (funded ratio of 108.5%) by the end of 2026 and $113 billion (funded ratio of 109.5%) by the end of 2027. For purposes of this forecast, we have assumed 2026 and 2027 aggregate annual contributions of $15 billion.
Under an optimistic forecast with rising interest rates (reaching 6.06% by the end of 2026 and 6.66% by the end of 2027) and annual asset returns of 10.61%, the funded ratio is projected to climb to 116% by the end of 2026 and 129% by the end of 2027. Under a pessimistic forecast with similar interest rate and asset movements (5.26% discount rate at the end of 2026 and 4.66% by the end of 2027 and 2.61% annual asset returns), the funded ratio is projected to decline to 101% by the end of 2026 and 92% by the end of 2027.
Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index - April 2026 (all dollar amounts in millions)
Pension asset and liability returns
About the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index
For the past 26 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 2025 fiscal year and for previous fiscal years. This pension plan accounting disclosure information was summarized as part of the Milliman 2026 Pension Funding Study, which was published on April 21, 2026. 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.