The number of multiemployer pension plans in the green zone as of January 1, 2010, was significantly higher than that a year earlier, according to The Segal Company's recently released Survey of Calendar-Year Plans' 2010 Zone Status. Fifty-four percent of the 230 calendar-year plans surveyed -- which are Segal clients from a variety of industries - are certifies in the green zone for 2010. This is a 15 percent increase from the 39 percent found last year, but still well below the 83 percent found in 2008. The survey found little change in the percentage red-zone plans, which is now much higher than the percentage of yellow-zone plans.
The survey included 121 plans in the construction industry. Of those, 59 percent were in the green zone at the start of 2010, 20 percent were in the yellow zone, and 21 percent were in the red zone. This compares to 43 percent, 33 percent, and 24 percent in 2009, respectively.
The survey also found that the average funded percentage for all calendar-year plans surveyed was 86 percent as of January 1, 2010, an increase of only one percent from a year earlier and significantly lower than the 97 percent found in 2008.
Just over 100 of the surveyed plans -- about 75 percent of those eligible - exercised the option provided by the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 to freeze the plan's 2009 zone status at its 2008 level. Nearly 30 of those plans (over 25 percent) are in the green zone for 2010.
For an abstract of the report, click here. To download the complete report (registration required), click here.
For a list of other recent pension plan funding surveys compiled by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, click here.
For information on recent AGC's efforts to seek funding relief in Congress, click here. To help in the effort by contacting your congressional delegation for support, click here.
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