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EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
DEFINED BENEFIT PLANS
We maintain Company sponsored pension plans for certain of our employees. We also maintain unfunded end-of-service benefit plans that are mandated in certain countries in which we operate. Our primary plans disclosed in 2023 included four U.S. plans and eight non-U.S. plans, primarily in the United Kingdom and Germany, all with plan assets or obligations greater than $20 million. These defined benefit plans generally provide benefits to employees based on formulas recognizing length of service and earnings; however, the majority of these plans are either frozen or closed to new entrants. We also provide certain postretirement health care benefits, through unfunded plans, to a closed group of U.S. employees who retire and meet certain age and service requirements. The accumulated postretirement benefit obligation related to these plans was $33 million and $37 million at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Funded Status
The funded status position represents the difference between the benefit obligation and the plan assets. Our primary plans consist of seven funded plans and five unfunded plans. The projected benefit obligation ("PBO") for pension benefits represents the actuarial present value of benefits attributed to employee services and compensation and includes an assumption about future compensation levels. The accumulated benefit obligation ("ABO") is the actuarial present value of pension benefits attributed to employee service to date at present compensation levels. The ABO differs from the PBO in that the ABO does not include any assumptions about future compensation levels.
Below is the reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of benefit obligations, fair value of plan assets and the funded status of our defined benefit plans ("Pension Benefits").
 Pension Benefits

20232022
Change in benefit obligation:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year$2,634 $3,550 
Service cost15 23 
Interest cost116 78 
Actuarial gain (1)
(4)(928)
Benefits paid(126)(119)
Settlements(4)(24)
Settlement due to plan termination (2)
(246)— 
Acquisition— 202 
Foreign currency translation adjustments58 (148)
Benefit obligation at end of year2,443 2,634 
Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year2,266 3,147 
Actual return on plan assets121 (850)
Employer contributions18 32 
Benefits paid(126)(119)
Settlements(4)(24)
Settlement due to plan termination (2)
(246)— 
Acquisition— 214 
Foreign currency translation adjustments51 (134)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year2,080 2,266 
Funded status - underfunded at end of year$(363)$(368)
Accumulated benefit obligation$2,399 $2,595 
(1)The actuarial gain in 2022 was primarily related to a change in the discount rate used to measure the benefit obligation for our plans.
(2)Plan termination relates to the termination of one of our fully funded frozen U.S. defined benefit plans that was initiated in April 2022.
The amounts recognized in the consolidated statements of financial position consist of the following at December 31:
 Pension Benefits

20232022
Noncurrent assets$78 $58 
Current liabilities(17)(15)
Noncurrent liabilities(424)(411)
Net amount recognized$(363)$(368)
Information for the plans with ABOs and PBOs in excess of plan assets consist of the following at December 31:

Pension Benefits

20232022
Projected benefit obligation$1,410 $1,143 
Accumulated benefit obligation$1,366 $1,103 
Fair value of plan assets$968 $717 
We have a U.S. non-qualified supplemental pension plan ("BH SPP") for certain employees which is included in the benefit obligations and funded status in the tables above. In order to meet a portion of our obligations of the BH SPP, we established a trust comprised primarily of mutual fund assets. The value of these assets was $36 million and $34 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. These assets are not included as plan assets or in the funded status amounts in the tables above and below.
Net Periodic Cost
The components of net periodic cost consist of the following:
Pension Benefits
202320222021
Service cost$15 $23 $27 
Interest cost116 78 64 
Expected return on plan assets(102)(114)(130)
Amortization of prior service credit
1 1 1 
Amortization of net actuarial loss19 27 40 
Curtailment / settlement loss (16)2 2 
Net periodic cost$33 $17 $4 
The service cost component of the net periodic cost is included in "Operating income (loss)" and all other components are included in "Other non-operating income (loss), net" in the consolidated statements of income (loss).
Assumptions Used in Benefit Calculations
Accounting requirements necessitate the use of assumptions to reflect the uncertainties and the length of time over which the pension obligations will be paid. The actual amount of future benefit payments will depend upon when participants retire, the amount of their benefit at retirement and how long they live. To reflect the obligation in today's dollars, we discount the future payments using a rate that matches the time frame over which the payments are expected to be made. We also need to assume a long-term rate of return that will be earned on investments used to fund these payments.
Another assumption used is the interest crediting rate for our U.S. qualified cash balance plan. Under the provisions of this pension plan, a hypothetical cash balance account has been established for each participant. Such accounts receive quarterly interest credits based on a prescribed formula.
Weighted average assumptions used to determine benefit obligations for these plans are as follows:
 Pension Benefits

20232022
Discount rate4.54 %4.89 %
Rate of compensation increase3.26 %3.30 %
Interest crediting rate3.98 %4.31 %
Weighted average assumptions used to determine net periodic cost for these plans are as follows:
Pension Benefits
202320222021
Discount rate4.89 %2.15 %1.66 %
Expected long-term return on plan assets
5.05 %3.85 %4.07 %
Interest crediting rate4.31 %2.60 %2.60 %
We determine the discount rate using a bond matching model, whereby the weighted average yields on high-quality fixed-income securities have maturities consistent with the timing of benefit payments. Lower discount rates increase the size of the benefit obligations while higher discount rates reduce the size of the benefit obligation. The compensation assumption is used in our active plans to estimate the annual rate at which the pay for plan participants will grow. If the rate of growth assumed increases, the size of the pension obligations will increase.
The expected return on plan assets is the estimated long-term rate of return that will be earned on the investments used to fund the pension obligations. To determine this rate, we consider the current and target composition of plan investments, our historical returns earned, and our expectations about the future.
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
The amount recorded before-tax in accumulated other comprehensive loss related to our defined benefit plans consists of the following at December 31:
 Pension Benefits

20232022
Net actuarial loss$333 $348 
Net prior service cost15 15 
Total$348 $363 
Plan Assets
We have investment committees that meet regularly to review portfolio returns and to determine asset-mix targets based on asset/liability studies. Third-party investment consultants assist these committees in developing asset allocation strategies to determine our expected rates of return and expected risk for various investment portfolios. The investment committees considered these strategies in the formal establishment of the current asset-mix targets based on the projected risk and return levels for all major asset classes.
The table below presents the fair value of the plan assets at December 31:
20232022
Debt securities
Fixed income and cash investment funds$1,122 $1,482 
Equity securities
Global equity securities (1)
227 180 
U.S. equity securities (1)
157 102 
Insurance contracts103 100 
Real estate34 53 
Private equities35 37 
Other investments (2)
402 313 
Total plan assets$2,080 $2,266 
(1)Include direct investments and investment funds.
(2)Consists primarily of asset allocation fund investments.
Plan assets valued using Net Asset Value ("NAV") as a practical expedient amounted to $1,967 million and $2,157 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The percentages of plan assets valued using NAV by investment fund type for equity securities, fixed income and cash, and alternative investments were 20%, 57%, and 23% as of December 31, 2023, respectively, and 13%, 69%, and 18% as of December 31, 2022, respectively. Those investments that were measured at fair value using NAV as a practical expedient were excluded from the fair value hierarchy. The practical expedient was not applied for investments with a fair value of $113 million and $109 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. There were investments classified within Level 3 of $103 million and $100 million for non U.S. insurance contracts as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Funding Policy
The funding policy for our Pension Benefits is to contribute amounts sufficient to meet minimum funding requirements as set forth in employee benefit and tax laws plus such additional amounts as we may determine to be appropriate. In 2023, we contributed approximately $18 million, which includes benefit payments made directly to the employee for our unfunded plans. We anticipate we will contribute between approximately $40 million to $45 million to our pension plans in 2024.
The following table presents the expected benefit payments for Pension Benefits over the next 10 years. For funded Company sponsored plans, the benefit payments are made by the respective pension trust funds.
YearPension Benefits
2024$164 
2025127 
2026132 
2027135 
2028136 
2029-2033717 
DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS
Our primary defined contribution plan during 2023 was the Company-sponsored U.S. 401(k) plan ("401(k) Plan"). The 401(k) Plan allows eligible employees to contribute portions of their eligible compensation to an investment trust. The Company matches employee contributions at the rate of $1.00 per $1.00 employee contribution for the first 5% of the employee's eligible compensation, and such contributions vest immediately. In
addition, we make cash contributions for all eligible employees of 4% of their eligible compensation and such contributions are fully vested after three years of employment. The 401(k) Plan provides several investment options, for which the employee has sole investment discretion; however, the 401(k) Plan does not offer the Company's common stock as an investment option. Our costs for the 401(k) Plan and several other U.S. and non-U.S. defined contribution plans amounted to $217 million and $212 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively.
We have two non-qualified defined contribution plans that are invested through trusts. The assets and corresponding liabilities were $281 million and $256 million at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and are included in "All other assets" and "Liabilities for pensions and other postretirement benefits," respectively, in the consolidated statements of financial position.