U.S. corporate pension plan funding ratios rose slightly in August, according to two new reports, while a third report estimates ratios fell during the month.

Legal & General Investment Management America in its report estimated the average funding ratio of the typical U.S. corporate pension plan rose to 95.6% as of Aug. 31 from 95% a month earlier.

LGIMA in its latest Pension Solutions Monitor said the funding ratio improved due to an decrease in liabilities offsetting a month of weak equity returns. According to LGIMA, plan discount rates rose 43 basis points during the month, with the Treasury component increasing 40 basis points and the credit component widening by 3 basis points.

The drop in liabilities was enough to overcome the S&P 500 index dropping 3.6%.

The Pension Solutions Monitor assumes a typical liability profile using a duration of about 12 years and an asset allocation of 60% MSCI AC World Total Gross index and 40% Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond index.

In another monthly report, Insight Investment said the funding ratio for U.S. corporate pension plans rose to 99% from 98.3% during August.

Liabilities decreased by 3.9 percentage points, offsetting a 3.1-percentage-point drop in assets. The average discount rate jumped to 4.51% as of Aug. 31 from 4.15% a month earlier, according to Insight.

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