In a recent report, Standard and Poors compiled data on the pension funds of S&P 500 companies, most of which have defined benefit plans. By comparing each company’s fund assets to its projected benefit obligations, Standard and Poors determined the funding ratio of each company’s plan.

Of the 339 companies that had full information on their pension funds, 290 had funds without adequate assets to cover upcoming pension payments in 2003. That means less than 15% of companies had enough assets to provide for their retirees as planned.

Altogether, S&P 500 defined benefit pensions were underfunded by 12.9% in 2003. The Standard and Poors report also breaks down the pension funding information by industry sector.

Use the pension chart to determine if pensions in your industry are underfunded.

Note that a negative funding ratio indicates that pensions are underfunded.