Corporate pensions aren’t happy campers these days—thanks to new longevity tables.

According to a new study from consulting firm NEPC LLC, those tables have hit defined benefit plans’ funded status hard.

The 2015 Defined Benefit Plan Trends Survey indicated that this year the number of defined benefit plans with a funded status of less than 80 percent increased dramatically over last year’s total.

In 2014, only 9 percent reported a funded status below 80 percent; in 2015, 21 percent did so.

While the survey examined corporate plan sponsors’ strategic vision for their pension funds, it found that “[t]he most impactful year over year change” was the incorporation of the new mortality tables from the Society of Actuaries.

The mortality improvements in the tables resulted in “a significant negative impact on plans’ funded status.”

NEPC reported, “The change in mortality tables prompted 69 percent of funds to conduct a formal review of their hedging glide path strategy. Of those that conducted a review, 39 percent redefined their glide path and 10 percent re-risked or revised their strategy to take into account the updated assumptions.”

While sponsors spent a lot of time examining their current strategies, the majority (52 percent) decided that they were comfortable with things the way they were and did not adjust existing glide paths.

The majority of sponsors, the study said, are hedging interest rate exposure with liability-driven investing (LDI) strategies, while some are also working on cutting the size of pension liability through lump-sum distributions to groups of participants.

However, this year the IRS banned lump-sum distributions for beneficiaries currently in payout status.

Sixty-five percent of respondents said that they’ve offered lump-sum distributions, while 18 percent are planning on doing so in the future. And while most (69 percent) say it’s too expensive to cut pension liability by offering annuities, some have done so anyway.

Instant Insights /

Participant mortality challenges corporate pensions

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