(9) Employee benefit plans

Sevcon has defined contribution plans covering the majority of its U.S. and U.K. employees in the controls business. There is also a small defined contribution plan covering senior managers in the capacitor business. The Company has frozen the U.K. and U.S. defined benefit plans for which no future benefits are being earned by employees. The following table sets forth the components of the net pension cost for the three and six month periods ended April 4, 2015 and March 29, 2014, respectively:

	(in thousands of dollars)
	Three Months ended						Six Months ended
	April4, 2015			March29, 2014			April4, 2015			March29, 2014
Interest cost	$	304		$	325		$	620		$	643
Expected return on plan assets		(313	)		(327	)		(626	)		(647	)
Amortization of net loss		68			57			132			113
Net periodic benefit cost		59			55			126			109
Net cost of defined contribution plans	$	125		$	132		$	272		$	247
Net cost of all employee benefit plans	$	184		$	187		$	398		$	356

The following table sets forth the movement in the liability for pension benefits in the six month periods ended April 4, 2015 and March 29, 2014, respectively:

	(in thousands of dollars)
	Six Months ended
	April4, 2015			March29, 2014
Liability for pension benefits at beginning of period		9,529			8,354
Net periodic benefit cost		126			109
Plan contributions		(332	)		(304	)
Recognition of net actuarial loss		(132	)		(113	)
Effect of exchange rate changes		(785	)		209
Balance at end of period		8,406			8,255

Amounts recognized in the balance sheet consist of:

	(in thousands of dollars)
	April4, 2015		March29, 2014
Non-current liabilities	$	8,406	$	8,255

Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss consist of:

	(in thousands of dollars)
	Three Months ended				Six Months ended
	April4, 2015		March29, 2014		April4, 2015		March29, 2014
Actuarial loss, net of $17 and $31 tax benefit for the three and six month periods, respectively, (2014: net of $13 and $26 tax benefit for the three and six month periods, respectively)	$	51	$	44	$	101	$	87

Sevcon, Inc. contributed $100,000 to its frozen U.S. defined benefit plan in the six months ended April 4, 2015; it presently anticipates contributing a further $100,000 to fund its U.S. plan in the remainder of fiscal 2015. In addition, employer contributions to the frozen U.K. defined benefit plan were $232,000 in the first six months and are estimated to total $455,000 in 2015.

During the quarter ended April 4, 2015, the assets of the frozen U.K. defined benefit plan (the Sevcon Limited Pension Plan, “the Plan”) were reorganized by the trustees of the Plan. The trustees appointed Legal & General Investment Management to sell the Plan investments held in pooled funds previously managed by Standard Life Investments and a holding in the Absolute Return Fund managed by Ruffer LLP. The cash proceeds were subsequently invested as to 80% in an investment in Adept Strategy 9 Fund, a sub-fund of Adept Investment Management plc, a Qualifying Investor Alternative Investment Fund authorized and supervised by the Central Bank of Ireland. The other 20% of the cash proceeds were invested in a range of Schroder Matching Plus Nominal and Index Linked Liability Driven Investment Swap Funds to match the profile of the Plan’s liability cash flows.

The table below presents information about the Company’s pension plan assets measured and recorded at fair value as of April 4, 2015 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the inputs utilized by the Company to determine the fair values.

(in thousands of dollars)

	Level 1* (Quoted prices in active markets)		Level 2** (Significant observable inputs)		Level 3*** (Unobservable inputs)
Mutual Funds
Adept Strategy 9 Fund (a sub-fund of Adept Investment Management plc) Schroder Matching Plus Nominal and Index Linked Liability Driven Investment Swap Funds (funds Managed by Schroder Investment Management Limited) U.S. Equity Funds		- - 364		14,631 3,663 -		- - -

U.S. Mutual Funds and Fixed Income Funds		2,502		-		-

Other Types of Investments
Cash		450		-		-
Total		3,316		18,294		-

*	Level 1 inputs are quoted, unadjusted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities at the measurement date. The Company's pension plan financial assets in U.S. Equity Funds, Mutual Funds and Fixed Income Funds

are Level 1 assets

**	Level 2 inputs are inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1, that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. The Company's pension plan financial assets held in the Adept Strategy 9 Fund and the Schroder investments are Level 2 assets

***	Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for an asset or liability. The Company currently does not have any Level 3 pension plan financial assets.

The following estimated benefit payments have been, or are expected, to be paid:

	(in thousands of dollars)
2015	$	668
2016		707
2017		697
2018		695
2019		671
2020 – 2024	$	3,658