Pensions and Other Post-Employment Benefits |
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Retirement Benefits [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pensions and Other Post-Employment Benefits | Pensions and Other Post-Employment Benefits The obligation and funded status of the Company’s pension and other post-employment benefit plans are shown below. The Pension Benefits column aggregates defined benefit pension plans in the U.S., Germany, and England, and the U.S. supplemental retirement plans. The Other Benefits column includes the domestic retiree medical and life insurance plan.
During 2018, the Company completed a partial plan settlement transaction relating to its U.S. pension plan wherein plan assets amounting to $111.5 million were used to purchase a group annuity contract from Mutual of America. This transaction relieved the Company of responsibility for the pension benefit obligation and consequently transferred the obligation and payment responsibility to Mutual of America for retirement benefits owed to approximately 1,150 retirees, beneficiaries, and other participants. The annuity contract covered retirees who commenced receiving benefits on or before June 1, 2018. The monthly retirement benefit payment amounts currently received by retirees and their beneficiaries did not change as a result of this transaction. Those plan participants not included in the transaction remain in the Plan, and responsibility for payment of the retirement benefits remains with the Company. The following amounts are included within accumulated other comprehensive loss at December 31, 2018 and are expected to be recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost during 2019:
The following table provides information regarding the accumulated benefit obligation:
The following table summarizes components of net benefit cost:
Beginning in 2018, the Company reports the service cost component of net benefit cost in the same line item as other compensation costs in operating expenses and the non-service cost components of net benefit cost in Other non-operating expenses. Additionally, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums are reported within expected return on plan assets. In conjunction with the pension annuity and other lump-sum payments, the Company remeasured the periodic benefit obligation of its U.S. plans in the period payments were made and recorded settlement charges totaling $41.4 million during 2018. The following table summarizes amounts recognized in other comprehensive income (OCI):
In determining the projected benefit obligation and the net benefit cost, as of a December 31 measurement date, the Company used the following weighted-average assumptions:
Discount Rate. The discount rate used to determine the present value of the projected and accumulated benefit obligation at the end of each year is established based upon the available market rates for high quality, fixed income investments whose maturities match the plan’s projected cash flows. Beginning in 2017, the Company has elected to use a spot-rate approach to estimate the service and interest cost components of net periodic benefit cost for its defined benefit pension plans. The spot-rate approach applies separate discount rates for each projected benefit payment in the calculation. Historically, the Company used a weighted-average approach to determine the service and interest cost components. The change was accounted for as a change in estimate and, accordingly, was accounted for prospectively starting in 2017. The reductions in service and interest costs for 2017 associated with this change in estimate totaled approximately $1.0 million. Expected Long-Term Return on Plan Assets. Management establishes the domestic expected long-term rate of return assumption by reviewing historical trends and analyzing the current and projected market conditions in relation to the plan’s asset allocation and risk management objectives. Consideration is given to both recent plan asset performance as well as plan asset performance over various long-term periods of time, with an emphasis on the assumption being a prospective, long-term rate of return. Management consults with and considers the opinions of its outside investment advisers and actuaries when establishing the rate and reviews assumptions with the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. Rate of Compensation Increase. The rate of compensation increase assumption was 4.0% in both 2018 and 2017 for the domestic defined benefit pension plan and the domestic retiree medical plan. Assumptions for the defined benefit pension plans in Germany and England are determined separately from the U.S. plan assumptions, based on historical trends and current and projected market conditions in Germany and England. One plan in Germany is unfunded.
Assumed health care cost trend rates can have an effect on the amounts reported for the health care plans. A one-percentage-point change in assumed health care cost trend rates would have the following effects:
Plan Assets The following tables present the fair values of the Company’s defined benefit pension plan assets as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 by asset category. The Company has some investments that are valued using net asset value (NAV) as the practical expedient and have not been classified in the fair value hierarchy. Refer to Note R for definitions of the fair value hierarchy.
The Company’s domestic defined benefit pension plan investment strategy, as approved by the Governance and Organization Committee of the Board of Directors, is to employ an allocation of investments that will generate returns equal to or better than the projected long-term growth of pension liabilities so that the plan will be self-funding. The return objective is to maximize investment return to achieve and maintain a 100% funded status over time, taking into consideration required cash contributions. The allocation of investments is designed to maximize the advantages of diversification while mitigating the risk and overall portfolio volatility to achieve the return objective. Risk is defined as the annual variability in value and is measured in terms of the standard deviation of investment return. Under the Company’s investment policies, allowable investments include domestic equities, international equities, fixed income securities, cash equivalents, and alternative securities (which include real estate, private venture capital investments, hedge funds, and tactical asset allocation). Ranges, in terms of a percentage of the total assets, are established for each allowable class of security. Derivatives may be used to hedge an existing security or as a risk reduction strategy. Current asset allocation guidelines are to invest 20% to 50% in equity securities, 30% to 70% in fixed income securities and cash, and up to 20% in alternative securities. Management reviews the asset allocation on a quarterly or more frequent basis and makes revisions as deemed necessary. None of the plan assets noted above are invested in the Company’s common stock. Cash Flows Employer Contributions. The Company expects to contribute $6.0 million to its domestic defined benefit pension plan and $1.3 million to its other benefit plans in 2019. Effective in 2016, all plan participants with an accrued benefit may elect an immediate payout in lieu of their future monthly annuity if the lump sum amount does not exceed $100,000. Estimated Future Benefit Payments. The following benefit payments, which reflect expected future service, as appropriate, are expected to be paid:
Other Benefit Plans In addition to the plans shown above, the Company also has certain foreign subsidiaries with accrued unfunded pension and other post-employment arrangements. The liability for these arrangements was $1.6 million at December 31, 2018 and $2.1 million at December 31, 2017, and was included in retirement and post-employment benefits in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company also sponsors defined contribution plans available to substantially all U.S. employees. The Company’s annual defined contribution expense, including the expense for the enhanced defined contribution plan, was $5.2 million in 2018, $4.5 million in 2017, and $3.6 million in 2016. |