RETIREMENT PLANS

The Company sponsors a defined benefit retirement plan, or Benefit Plan, that covers eligible employees hired prior to February 1, 2007. The benefits are based on years of service and the employee’s five-year final average salary. Contributions are intended to provide for benefits attributable to service both to date and expected to be provided in the future. The Company funds the plan in accordance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA. In April 2017, the Company froze the Benefit Plan as it relates to future benefit accruals for participants. The Company expects to contribute $165,000 to the Benefit Plan during 2019.

Benefit Plan assets consist of equity, debt and short-term money market investment funds. The Benefit Plan’s current investment policy changed during the third quarter of 2018. The new policy is an investment strategy in which the primary focus is to minimize the volatility of the funding ratio. This objective will result in a prescribed asset mix between "return seeking" assets (e.g., stocks) and a bond portfolio (e.g., long duration bonds) according to a pre-determined customized investment strategy based on the Benefit Plan's funded status as the primary input. This path will be used as a reference point as to the mix of assets, which by design will de-emphasize the return seeking portion as funded status improves. At both March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the investment mix was approximately 64% equity, 35% debt, and 1% money market funds. Equity investments consist of a combination of individual equity securities plus value funds, growth funds, large cap funds and international stock funds. Debt investments consist of U.S. Treasury securities and investment grade corporate debt. The weighted average discount rate used in determining the periodic pension cost is 4.2% in 2019 and 2018. The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is 7.3% and 7.5% in 2019 and 2018, respectively. The long-term rate of return on Benefit Plan assets is based on the historical returns within the plan and expectations for future returns.

Total pension and retirement expense for the Benefit Plan was as follows:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
($ in thousands)	2019			2018
Earnings (cost) components:
Interest cost	(97		)	(91		)
Expected return on plan assets	131			146
Net amortization and deferral	(19		)	(16		)
Total net periodic pension earnings	$	15		$	39

The Company has a Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan, or SERP, to restore to executives designated by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors the full benefits under the pension plan that would otherwise be restricted by certain limitations now imposed under the Internal Revenue Code. The SERP is currently unfunded. The Company in April 2017 froze the SERP as it relates to the accrual of additional benefits.

The pension and retirement expense for the SERP was as follows:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
($ in thousands)	2019			2018
Cost components:
Interest cost	$	(76	)	$	(64	)
Net amortization and other	(16		)	(16		)
Total net periodic pension cost	$	(92	)	$	(80	)