Pension Funding Bounces Back in October

November 6, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The funded status of a typical US pension plan improved 1.5% in October, according to the Mellon Pension Liability Indexes.

A news release from Mellon said the value of pension assets grew 2.5%, while the value of liabilities increased 1% during the month. This represents a rebound from the 0.2% drop in funding status Mellon reported in September (See Pension Funding Slightly Decreased in September ).

Strong global stock market performance was responsible for the increase in asset levels, said Peter Austin, executive director of Mellon Pension Services, in the release. Liabilities increased due to a small decline in long-term interest rates, he said.

For the same reasons the funded status of a typical pension plan was 7.8% better as of October 31, 2006 than it was at the beginning of the year, with assets up by 9.3% and liabilities, up 1.5%.

More about the Mellon Pension Liability Indexes can be found here .

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