U.S. Private Pension (Defined-Benefit) Assets

## What this measures

The assets private employers have set aside in their traditional defined-benefit pension funds, which promise a set income in retirement.

## Why it matters

Corporate pensions are a shrinking but still large pool of long-term investment, and a liability on employer balance sheets.

## How to read it

It was $3,465 billion in the second quarter of 2026. Assets are not the promise: compare with what the plans owe before reading anything about funding.

## What it does not say

Z.1 values are end-of-quarter levels in nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation, and they move with stock and bond prices as much as with saving. The Fed revises past quarters with each release. It counts assets the plans hold, not what they owe; the gap is the sponsors' unfunded (or overfunded) position.

## Source

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1), series FL572000075 (FRED series BOGZ1FL572000075Q). Palanor pulls it from the FRED API (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) nightly.