Pension Funding Status Q3 2025

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Stephen Mullin , Jeffrey Passmore

SEP 2025

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Executive Summary

Our latest analysis examines quarterly corporate pension funded status from four angles—monthly funded-status movement, pension volatility, asset performance, and long-term historical context. The Q3 report reveals:

Where and how the average pension funded status increased
What daily volatility revealed about discount-rate movements
How and what levels asset gains outpaced liabilities
How much funded status has progressed over the decade to its recent surprising strength

Explore these insights and more in MetLife Investment Management’s Q3 Pension Funding Status report.

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Disclosures

This report is for general discussion purposes only. It is not a solicitation for investment and is not intended as a recommendation or advice. Information used in the preparation of this report has been obtained from publicly and commercially available sources and is believed to be accurate. It has been checked for reasonableness but has not been verified.

Our analysis is based on SEC Form 10-K information for over 500 companies in the Russell 3000 companies reporting pensions. All opinions included in this report are those of the authors and are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Indexes used in the preparation of this report are the property of their respective owners. MetLife has no affiliation with any of these indexes or owners.

Bloomberg Long Government/Credit Bond Index is an index of bonds with maturities greater than 10 years and is comprised of U.S. Treasury, U.S. Corporate and Non-Corporate Credit bonds that are dollar denominated. It is a maintained by Bloomberg Finance LP (Bloomberg).

Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is a broad-based index and is often used to represent the universe of investment grade bonds being traded in United States. It is maintained by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg Commodity Index aims to provide broadly diversified representation of commodity markets as an asset class. It comprises exchange-traded futures on physical commodities, each are weighted to account for economic significance and market liquidity. It is maintained by Bloomberg.

FTSE Russell 3000 Index is a capitalization-weighted stock market index that represents the performance of the 3,000 largest (based on market capitalization) publicly held companies incorporated in the U.S. It represents approximately 98% of the U.S. public equity market. It is a copyright of the London Stock Exchange Group, PLC.

FTSE Russell NAREIT Equity Index is an index that contains all equity REITs not designated as timber REITs or infrastructure REITs and is a copyright of the London Stock Exchange Group, PLC.

Bloomberg All Hedge Fund Index is designed to be representative of the overall composition of the hedge fund universe. It is comprised of all eligible hedge fund strategies. It is maintained by Bloomberg. It replaced the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, which was used for periods prior to July 1, 2023. This index includes strategies that are asset weighted based on the distribution of assets in the hedge fund industry. It is a trademark of HFR, Inc.

MSCI EAFE Index is a market-capitalization weighted stock market index that is designed to measure the performance of developed equity markets outside of the U.S. & Canada. It is a copyright of MSCI Inc.

S&P Listed Private Equity Index comprises the leading listed private equity companies that meet specific size, liquidity, exposure, and activity requirements. The index is designed to provide tradable exposure to the leading publicly listed companies that are active in the private equity space. It is a copyright of the S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global Inc.

This document has been prepared by MetLife Investment Management, LLC , a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registered investment adviser. Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or that the SEC has endorsed the investment adviser.

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