By Emily Hoyle
Source: Plans Adviser
Roaring equity markets fueled an April rebound for pension fund sponsors after the onset of war in the Middle East had rocked stock markets in March and had taken the funded levels of U.S. corporate defined benefit pensions down a notch.
The funded status of the 100 largest U.S. corporate defined benefit plans increased from 105.9% at the end of March to 107.8% at the end of April, the highest mark observed since October 2007—when the figure was 108.1%, according to Milliman’s Pension Funding Index.
“2025 turned out to be a really good year for pensions, both from market gains and discount rates remaining relatively high,” says Zorast Wadia, a principal at Milliman and author of his firm’s PFI. “So far in 2026, it’s been a different story. We started off the year with some gains, then we gave it all back in March and started from scratch.”