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Pensions

Pensions Took Bumpy Ride in August, Mercer Says

Tammy Whitehouse September 07, 2011

Corporate pension plans at large companies fell another $73 billion deeper into the funding abyss in August, according to the latest data from consulting firm Mercer. The plans suffered a double hit from rapidly falling equity prices, coupled with a decline in corporate bond yields used to calculate plan liabilities.

New Disclosures Required for Multi-Employer Pension Plans

Tammy Whitehouse August 09, 2011

The Financial Accounting Standards Board detailed its plan to revise an accounting standard on multi-employer pension plans, such as union plans that require corporate funding as part of collective bargaining agreements. Companies will be required to disclose the amount they are contributing to each significant multi-employer plan that they support and its funded status. More details inside.

U.K. Company Uses Brand Names to Fund Pensions

Tammy Whitehouse July 13, 2011

In what may be a pension funding first, a European public company is leveraging the value of its trademarks to try to catch up to its pension liabilities.

FASB Pulls Up on Multi-employer Pension Plans

Tammy Whitehouse June 03, 2011

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has decided to back off from a proposal to require extensive new disclosures for companies that fund multi-employer pension plans. Under the latest proposal, companies would not have to disclose their "withdrawal liability," the amount they would owe if they suddenly left the plan.

Pensions Show Tiny Gains; Sponsors Rethink Accounting

Tammy Whitehouse March 30, 2011

Pension plans are showing modest improvements in funding levels thanks to cash contributions and better returns in the equity market. Meanwhile, some companies are considering a change to accounting policy to speed up the recognition of losses rather than allowing them to become a drag on earnings well into the future.

Fed Policy Adds to Pension Funding Woes, Mercer Warns

Tammy Whitehouse November 12, 2010

The Federal Reserve’s policy of “quantitative easing” may or may not achieve the Fed’s objective of jumpstarting a sluggish economy, but the supressed interest rates that come with the policy are sure to give pension plan sponsors more funding headaches.That’s the prediction from investment advisory firm Mercer, which is warning...

FASB Backs Off Again on Controversial Rule Proposals

Tammy Whitehouse November 11, 2010

Yet another controversial accounting proposal is moving off the charts for the 2010 reporting year after the Financial Accounting Standards Board determined it needs more time to work on new rules around multiemployer pension plans. On a related note, the board also determined it will hold off on any further...

Report Says Accounting Trumps Pension Risk Management

Tammy Whitehouse September 10, 2010

Companies that are still managing defined benefit pension plans may have reasonable plans for managing pension risk, but they’re hamstrung by accounting standards from taking more proactive measures. That’s the view of consulting firms Mercer and Oliver Wyman, at least, described in a joint report calling on corporate pension plan...

FASB Wants New Disclosure on Multi-employer Plans

Tammy Whitehouse September 02, 2010

Accounting rulemakers have published another new accounting rule proposal, this one targeting the transparency of multi-employer pension and other post-retirement benefit plans.The rule would require companies that participate in such plans, such as union pension plans and retirement benefit plans, to provide more information about the fiscal health of the...

Companies Get Extra Time to Catch Up on Pension Funding

Tammy Whitehouse June 30, 2010

Companies have won another round of relief on meeting pension funding requirements, but the package includes a catch that may cause some companies to think hard about signing up.Congress passed and President Obama has signed into law the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act....

Funding for Multiemployer Pension Plans Hard to Pin Down

Tammy Whitehouse June 24, 2010

The sponsors of multiemployer pension plans are suffering just as much heartburn over funding levels as corporate pension plan sponsors, and the mounting liability may soon begin showing up in corporate balance sheets.Corporations whose employees are members of multiemployer plans, such as plans sponsored by trade unions or collective bargaining...

Analysts Plan New Adjustments for Pension Accounting

Tammy Whitehouse April 05, 2010

Through the economic crisis, analysts got a stark reminder of how the effect of pension plans and other post-retirement benefit obligations on equity and net income isn’t entirely clear under existing financial reporting requirements, especially in the banking sector.Moody’s recently published a detailed report on how it planned to adjust...

FASB Plans Disclosures for Multi-employer Pension Plans

Tammy Whitehouse March 19, 2010

Companies sponsoring multi-employer pension plans—meaning a pension plan along with other post-employment benefits—likely will have some new disclosures required for their 2010 financial statements.The Financial Accounting Standards Board has opened a project that they plan to pursue on a fast-track basis to get guidance out in time for 2010 year-end...

PwC Offers Eleventh Hour Pension Disclosure Tips

Tammy Whitehouse January 14, 2010

Some companies are still struggling with new requirements for pension plan disclosures, prompting PricewaterhouseCoopers to publish some guidance of its own to help clarify things.The Financial Accounting Standards Board adopted a staff position in late 2008 now found in the Accounting Standards Codification at ASC 715-20-50 describing expanded new disclosure...

Never Mind Return, Plan Sponsors Focus on Volatility

Tammy Whitehouse November 23, 2009

Seeking an escape from volatile contribution requirements, pension plan sponsors increasingly are adopting investment strategies that focus more on matching liabilities than on generating overall return on plan assets.A recent poll by SEI, an asset management and investment firm, suggests more than half of executives overseeing pensions are adopting a...

IASB Wants Pension Gains, Losses to Flow to Earnings

Tammy Whitehouse July 03, 2009

U.S. companies with an interest in how pension gains and losses are reported through income should take note of some potentially hair-raising plans at the International Accounting Standards Board.IASB and the Financial Accounting Standards Board are working on separate but coordinated projects to revise their respective rules on pension accounting....

Sponsors See Drastic Measures for Underfunded Pensions

Tammy Whitehouse February 25, 2009

Pension plans sponsors are starting to weigh tough choices after suffering devastating returns in 2008, even after accounting for relaxed funding requirements in the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008.A global poll conducted by investment management firm SEI says U.S. pension assets plunged by at least 20 percent...

FASB to Pension Sponsors: Explain Investments and Risk

Tammy Whitehouse January 07, 2009

Pension plan sponsors have a new set of ground rules to follow in disclosing how they’re allocating assets and managing risk.The Financial Accounting Standards Board finalized staff guidance that amends Financial Accounting Statement No. 132R: Employers’ Disclosures about Pensions and Other Post-retirement Benefits to flesh out new disclosures regarding where...

Pension Assumptions May Be Reasonable, Study Says

Tammy Whitehouse December 23, 2008

Despite drastic plunges in pension plan assets in recent weeks, an investment advisory firm’s research suggests plan sponsors shouldn’t necessarily assume they need to make drastic changes to their return-on-asset assumptions for financial reporting purposes.SEI recently updated its annual research study on how companies can apply Financial Accounting Standard No....

Congress Provides Pension Funding Relief

Tammy Whitehouse December 17, 2008

Companies sponsoring pension plans have won some sympathy from Congress on the difficulty in funding pension plans that have been ravaged by market turmoil.Both houses of Congress have approved the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 to ease up on the two-year-old requirements of the Pension Protection Act...

Pension Guidance Will Call for More Fair-Value Disclosure

Tammy Whitehouse November 11, 2008

When the Financial Accounting Standards Board finalizes its proposed staff position on pension plan disclosures, it will call for a lot more information about where and how fair value is used to measure pension plan assets.FASB is working on amendments to Financial Accounting Standard 132R: Employers’ Disclosures About Post-retirement Benefit...

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