In this article from ASPPA, NEPC’s 2026 Corporate Defined Benefit Peer Study is highlighted showing improved funded status, declining liabilities, and growing confidence in the long-term viability of defined benefit plans, with many sponsors focused on using surplus assets to manage future costs. Read the full article on the ASPPA website.
Defined benefit plans may not have the preeminence they once did, but they’re holding their own. In fact, more than holding their own, according to a recent study.
Funding status, interest in retaining a pension plan, plans for surplus assets, and more all auger well for DB plans, according to a report by NEPC in its 2026 Corporate Defined Benefit Peer Study and Survey. In the report, NEPC used data from survey responses from 46 plan sponsors and from the Securities and Exchange Commission 10-K reports filed by 218 plan sponsors in 2025.
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The years-long trend of improvement in private pension plan funding levels that NEPC has been reporting continues, according to its findings. The level stood at 87% in 2019; in 2025 it was 16 percentage points higher, 103%. With the exception of a 1 percentage point drop from 2022-2023, the trajectory for plans in the aggregate has been consistent in NEPC reckoning
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The NEPC report shows that plan liabilities as a percentage of market cap dropped by 9 percentage points during the period 2018-2025, starting at 19% in 2018 and landing at 10% in 2025. Here’s a year-to-year look:
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NEPC found that surplus asset use centers on cost management. They report that their survey results indicate that most plan sponsors whose plans have surplus assets intend to use them to (1) cover future expenses related to the plan or (2) reduce potential future contributions to the plan.
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The NEPC 2026 Corporate Defined Benefit Peer Study and Survey is available here.
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