The Multiemployer Retirement Plan Landscape: A 15-Year Look (2003-2017)
For the seventh year, Horizon Actuarial Services, LLC, and the International Foundation have partnered on The Multiemployer Retirement Plan Landscape: A 15-Year Look (2003-2017), an annual benchmarking report on multiemployer pension and retirement plans. The report covers both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plans using data from Form 5500 Annual Reports filed with the Department of Labor, with 2017 being the most recent information currently available.
The report analyzes key trends in demographics, cash flows, and investments for defined benefit and defined contribution plans over the fifteen-year period from 2003 through 2017, and helps trustees, consultants and policy makers gain a better understanding of these plans and their environment.
Members of the media can request a copy from [email protected].
The nation’s 1,232 solvent multiemployer defined benefit (DB) plans had more than $541 billion in assets and covered 10.8 million participants and beneficiaries in 2017. Most participants in multiemployer DC plans are also covered by a multiemployer DB plan.
The Multiemployer DB Plan Landscape 2003-2017
The nation's 1,232 solvent multiemployer defined benefit (DB) plans had more than $541 billion in assets and covered 10.8 million participants and beneficiaries in 2017. Most participants in multiemployer DC plans are also covered by a multiemployer DB plan.
Median DB Plan Net Investment Returns*
/median-db-plan-net-investment-returns.svg "Median DB Plan Net Investment Returns")
*Calendar year plans only.
Median Average End-of-Year DC Plan Account Balances
/median-average-end-of-year-dc-plan-account-balances.svg "Median Average End-of-Year DC Plan Account Balances")
DB Plan Median Market Value Funded Percentages*
/db-plan-median-market-value-funded-percentages.svg "DB Plan Median Market Value Funded Percentages")
**A plan's market value funded percentage is its fair market value of assets divided by its actuarial accrued liability. These percentages do not reflect actuarial smoothing of prior investment gains and losses—They fully recognize such gains and losses.
Median is the midpoint—Half of the data set's results are higher than this midpoint, and half are below. This differs from the average, which is the sum of the results divided by the number of results. Because the average is impacted by unusually high or low results, our data is displayed using the median.
The Multiemployer DB Plan Landscape 2003-2017
The 1,052 multiemployer defined contribution (DC) plans in the United States had total assets of more than $164 billion in 2017, and the median account balance climbed to $43,500.
About the Survey: The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and Horizon Actuarial Services, LLC have partnered to build a database of historical information for multiemployer retirement plans in the United States. A database of multiemployer defined benefit (DB) plans was originally built during the summer of 2013 using publicly available information from Form 5500 filings. The database of multiemployer defined contribution (DC) plans was built during the summer of 2014 as a supplement to the original DB plan database.
There's more! View a full listing of International Foundation benchmarking and pulse survey reports.
Survey reports are just one of the many helpful products and services included with an International Foundation membership.