pensions; CFOs: pension woes take toll on financials.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: BusinessBRIEFS - Brief Article

The "pain points" of pensions are starting to hurt CFOs even more these days. The second annual Pension Management Survey, sponsored by SEI Investments, found that fully 76 percent of responding finance chiefs said their defined-benefit (DB) plan was taking a toll on their financials, up from 61 percent in the previous survey in 2003.

A somewhat lower number, 62 percent, said the pension plan had actually lowered company profitability, and 29 percent said it had hurt cash flow. Ten percent said that their credit rating had been impacted, up from just 1 percent the year before. Only 5 percent said their pension plan did not create financial risk to their income statement and balance sheet.

Volatility is a major issue, with 78 percent citing "volatile and unpredictable contributions" as the biggest burden in maintaining their plans. Eight-six percent admitted they don't...