Sponsors of the largest U.S. defined benefit pension plans are deepening their risk-management focus on plan liabilities and are increasingly viewing plan assets in the context of liabilities, according to a new study from MetLife released Wednesday. Amid ongoing economic and regulatory uncertainty, the top two risk factors identified as most important to plan sponsors today continue to be liability-related: underfunding of liabilities and asset and liability mismatch. These two risks are followed in the importance rankings by asset allocation and meeting return goals, two investment-oriented risks.
The study, which surveyed 156 corporate plan sponsors, measures plan sponsors’ aptitude for managing — and attitudes about — 18 investment, liability and business risks to which their plans are exposed.
