Stock market gains helped offset a drop in bond yields at the typical large U.S. defined benefit pension plan in July.
The "funded ratio" at a typical plan rose to 67.6% at the end of the month, from 66.6% at the end of June, according to consultants in the Stamford, Conn., office of Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby Inc.
Towers Perrin bases pension status figures partly on the performance of a hypothetical benchmark pension plan and partly on the actual pension results reported by 300 large U.S. companies.
