Despite expectations for a Fed rate hike, longer-term bond yields have declined, a factor in computing discount rates used to estimate pension liabilities. Lower discount rates, which are based on the yield of high-quality corporate bonds, increase a pension plan's projected liabilities.
Pension discount rates fell to 4.19 percent in September, from 4.23 percent in August and down more than 2 percentage points since the global financial crisis in 2008.
"There is a greater deficit now on the balance sheet. They are feeling more of that pain from a cash and financial statement perspective," BNY Mellon's Wozniak said.