Pension Plan Zone Status: Winter 2021 Multiemployer Survey

Key findings

When compared with the prior year, we discovered the following about the plans in the survey:

• The number of plans with a projected minimum funding deficiency within the next 10 years grew by almost 25 percent.
• The percentage of plans in the green zone remained level.
• The average funded percentage was 84 percent, down slightly from 85 percent in 2019.
• The industry activity assumption for most plans was the same or close to the same as in their prior year’s zone certification.

What you’ll find in this survey — and why you should care

For trustees of multiemployer pension funds, there’s no greater challenge than navigating your plan through the current funding crisis. Knowing the details of how plans similar to yours have performed can provide a benchmark for your own plan’s performance. This data, combined with the insight we’ve developed from decades of working with multiemployer pension plans, makes this report an invaluable tool for trustees.

This report includes (but is not limited to) insights on:

• The effect of asset smoothing on funding status
• Different industry activity assumptions
• What factors have influenced changes in plan funding status
• The importance of risk to plan funding