Defined Benefits

The gains, however, are less than the annual investment returns of 7.5 percent to 8 percent that many state and local governments count on to pay benefits for teachers, police and other employees.

The supermarket companys largest defined benefit plan covers 54,000 participants.

Detroits bankruptcy plan resolved a pension crisis with creative strokes, though at a cost to retirees who thought their benefits were untouchable.

The loss widened to $1.46 billion from $460 million a year earlier, the Newark, New Jersey-based insurer said.

The funded status of U.S. corporate pension plans took a sharp downward turn in January, though by just how much depends on whom you ask.

Hovensa LLC, an oil refinery that operated in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is abandoning its pension plan after shuttering operations in 2012.

Higher premiums have spurred some large plan sponsors to buy group annuities to off-load, or de-risk, their pension liabilities.

That amount represents about $1 of every $4 invested in hedge funds, the Alternative Investment Management Association says.