Pension Plan Assumptions: How Companies Hide Liabilities and Overstate Earnings

Most people are aware of the government pension disasters across the country. It’s also no secret that many corporate pension plans are underfunded. However, there are red flags within pension plans that reveal the underfunding problem is worse than we may think.

By tracking these red flags, we’ve also found numerous instances of companies grossly overstating their expected rate of return assumptions and artificially growing earnings in the process. In this special report, we lay out the 10 companies with the most underfunded pensions along with the 10 companies using unrealistic expected return and discount rate assumptions.

While these assumptions may seem like academic concerns, their effects on the market are very real and can lead to profitability issues, hidden liabilities, and even mislead investors.

Get “Overstated Earnings: Pension Plan Red Flags” today.

*This report is free to all Institutional members.

Photo Credit: Simon Cunningham (Flickr)