Counting the cost

摘要

SHARE PRICES may have rallied from the depths they plumbed when the corona-virus pandemic was spreading rapidly around the world. But the S&P 500, America's main stockmarket index, is still below its level at the start of the year. That is bad news for pension funds, which rely on their investments to pay out benefits to retired people. Unless markets recover fully, the Centre for Retirement Research (CRR) in Boston estimates, the average funding ratio of American state and local-government pension plans for the fiscal year ending in June 2020 will be 69.5%. That is the lowest level this century. Back in 2000 the average plan was fully funded.