The funded status of pension plans for companies in the S&P 500 has decreased by $15 billion year to date, according to the Aon Hewitt Pension Risk Tracker.
Nonetheless, the aggregate funded ratio improved ever so slightly from 79.9% to 80.9%. Aon Hewitt attributes this to asset gains of $41 billion, offset by a liability increase of $26 billion.
The month-end 10-year Treasury rate decreased by 2 basis points from the month before, and credit spreads narrowed by 9 basis points. This resulted in the interest rates used to value pension liabilities decreasing from 4.00% at the end of January to 3.89% at the end of February.