DB Plans Of Fortune 100 Companies In The Black For First Time Since 2000, Says Towers Perrin

For the first time since 2000, the assets of defined benefit pension plans offered by Fortune 100 companies exceed plan liabilities – with Towers Perrin estimating that those defined benefit pension plans are 102.4% funded in aggregate at year-end 2006, up significantly from the 91.6% aggregate funded level at the end of 2005. Towers Perrin estimates that the 79 Fortune 100 companies that offer defined benefit pension plans now hold an aggregate pension funding surplus of roughly $23 billion at year-end 2006. Of course, the average Fortune 100 company’s pension contribution increased from a low of approximately $80 million in 1999 to an estimated $470 million in 2006.