Mercer has continued its partnership with CFO Research to survey senior finance executives to better understand future direction for plan sponsors. Our 2017 survey includes responses from over 200 senior finance executives in the U.S. with defined benefit plans that have $100 million in assets or more. Join us on September 15th where we will discuss the findings of the survey.

This year's research has found an increasing commitment from sponsors to de-risk their pension plans, including:

• 80% of plan sponsors are funding more than the minimum requirement, with 75% having increased (or planning to increase) contributions due to rising PBGC fees and the prospect of lower corporate tax rates
• Over 80% have a dynamic de-risking strategy in place or are currently considering one, and
• A majority of plan sponsors are moving forward with risk transfer projects – nearly 75% have offered a lump sum option through a window or permanent feature, and more than half have completed a retiree annuity project.