In 2007, before the onset of the financial crisis, there was actually an $82 billion surplus. The crisis took care of that, however, and at the end of 2012 the deficit amounted to a record $297 billion. While aggregate assets are up by 44 percent since the financial crisis, liabilities have nearly kept pace and are up by 40 percent.

During 2014, TW Pension 100 assets grew by 3 percent. Obligations, however, rose by 13 percent. “Investment returns were higher than expected and sponsors made relatively large plan contributions (albeit smaller than those in prior years),” TW said. But from 2013 to 2014, the pension deficit increased from $127.9 billion to $248.2 billion — an increase of 94 percent.

Overall, corporate pension plans saw their funding ratios increase in February, thanks in part to gains in equities.

How far pension funding ratios rise or fall is important because they indicate how much money funds have to set aside every year to ensure future retirees are paid. Funding ratios dropped to as low as 64 percent five years ago amid the financial meltdown, but the current funding levels still trail the 95 percent peak seen just before the Great Recession.