v2.4.0.6
Pension And Other Postretirement Benefits
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Pension And Other Postretirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Pension And Other Postretirement Benefits

16. Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits

 

The benefit obligations and plan assets associated with the Corporation's principal benefit plans are measured on December 31.

 

 

 

For U.S. plans, the discount rate is determined by constructing a portfolio of high-quality, noncallable bonds with cash flows that match estimated outflows for benefit payments. For major non-U.S. plans, the discount rate is determined by using bond portfolios with an average maturity approximating that of the liabilities or spot yield curves, both of which are constructed using high-quality, local-currency-denominated bonds.

The measurement of the accumulated postretirement benefit obligation assumes an initial health care cost trend rate of 5.5 percent that declines to 4.5 percent by 2015. A one-percentage-point increase in the health care cost trend rate would increase service and interest cost by $63 million and the postretirement benefit obligation by $696 million. A one-percentage-point decrease in the health care cost trend rate would decrease service and interest cost by $49 million and the postretirement benefit obligation by $567 million.

 

 

 

The funding levels of all qualified pension plans are in compliance with standards set by applicable law or regulation. As shown in the table below, certain smaller U.S. pension plans and a number of non-U.S. pension plans are not funded because local tax conventions and regulatory practices do not encourage funding of these plans. All defined benefit pension obligations, regardless of the funding status of the underlying plans, are fully supported by the financial strength of the Corporation or the respective sponsoring affiliate.

 

                                     
    Pension Benefits  
    U.S.            Non-U.S.  
     2011      2010             2011      2010  
    (millions of dollars)  

Assets in excess of/(less than) benefit obligation

                                        

Balance at December 31

                                        

Funded plans

  $ (4,141    $ (2,349          $ (5,319    $ (2,769

Unfunded plans

    (2,238      (1,823            (6,632      (6,188

Total

  $ (6,379    $ (4,172          $ (11,951    $ (8,957

 

The authoritative guidance for defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans requires an employer to recognize the overfunded or underfunded status of a defined benefit postretirement plan as an asset or liability in its statement of financial position and to recognize changes in that funded status in the year in which the changes occur through other comprehensive income.

 

 

 

The long-term expected rate of return on funded assets shown below is established for each benefit plan by developing a forward-looking, long-term return assumption for each asset class, taking into account factors such as the expected real return for the specific asset class and inflation. A single, long-term rate of return is then calculated as the weighted average of the target asset allocation and the long-term return assumption for each asset class.

 

                                                                                 
    Pension Benefits        

Other Postretirement

Benefits

 
    U.S.         Non-U.S.        
     2011     2010     2009          2011     2010     2009          2011     2010     2009  

Weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost for years ended December 31

    (percent)   

Discount rate

    5.50        6.00        6.25            4.80        5.20        5.50            5.50        6.00        6.25   

Long-term rate of return on funded assets

    7.50        7.50        8.00            6.80        6.70        7.30            7.50        7.50        8.00   

Long-term rate of compensation increase

    5.25        5.25        5.00            5.20        5.00        4.70            5.25        5.25        5.00   
   

Components of net periodic benefit cost

    (millions of dollars)   

Service cost

  $ 546      $ 468      $ 438          $ 574      $ 480      $ 421          $ 121      $ 101      $ 94   

Interest cost

    792        798        809            1,267        1,175        1,121            393        395        408   

Expected return on plan assets

    (769     (726     (656         (1,168     (1,010     (886         (41     (37     (35

Amortization of actuarial loss/(gain)

    485        525        694            647        554        648            162        147        176   

Amortization of prior service cost

    9        2                   103        84        79            35        52        69   

Net pension enhancement and curtailment/settlement expense

    286        321        485            34        9        2                            

Net periodic benefit cost

  $ 1,349      $ 1,388      $ 1,770          $ 1,457      $ 1,292      $ 1,385          $ 670      $ 658      $ 712   

Changes in amounts recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income:

                                                                               

Net actuarial loss/(gain)

  $ 2,218      $ 44      $ (231       $ 4,133      $ 1,202      $ (33       $ 468      $ 251      $ (107

Amortization of actuarial (loss)/gain

    (771     (846     (1,179         (681     (563     (650         (162     (147     (176

Prior service cost/(credit)

           80                   187        160        69                   26          

Amortization of prior service (cost)/credit

    (9     (2                (103     (84     (79         (35     (52     (69

Foreign exchange rate changes

                             (90     96        608                   2        2   

Total recorded in other comprehensive income

    1,438        (724     (1,410         3,446        811        (85         271        80        (350

Total recorded in net periodic benefit cost and other comprehensive income, before tax

  $ 2,787      $ 664      $ 360          $ 4,903      $ 2,103      $ 1,300          $ 941      $ 738      $ 362   

Costs for defined contribution plans were $378 million, $347 million and $339 million in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

A summary of the change in accumulated other comprehensive income is shown in the table below:

 

                         
    Total Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits  
             2011                      2010                      2009          
(Charge)/credit to other comprehensive income, before tax   (millions of dollars)  

U.S. pension

  $ (1,438    $ 724       $ 1,410   

Non-U.S. pension

    (3,446      (811      85   

Other postretirement benefits

    (271      (80      350   

Total (charge)/credit to other comprehensive income, before tax

    (5,155      (167      1,845   

(Charge)/credit to income tax (see Note 18)

    1,495         35         (591

(Charge)/credit to investment in equity companies

    (30      11         (133

(Charge)/credit to other comprehensive income including noncontrolling interests, after tax

  $ (3,690    $ (121    $ 1,121   

Charge/(credit) to equity of noncontrolling interests

    288         95         93   

(Charge)/credit to other comprehensive income attributable to ExxonMobil

  $ (3,402    $ (26    $ 1,214   

 

 

The Corporation's investment strategy for benefit plan assets reflects a long-term view, a careful assessment of the risks inherent in various asset classes and broad diversification to reduce the risk of the portfolio. The benefit plan assets are primarily invested in passive equity and fixed income index funds to diversify risk while minimizing costs. The equity funds hold ExxonMobil stock only to the extent necessary to replicate the relevant equity index. The fixed income funds are largely invested in high-quality corporate and government debt securities.

Studies are periodically conducted to establish the preferred target asset allocation. The target asset allocation for the U.S. benefit plans is 50 percent equity securities and 50 percent debt securities. The target asset allocation for the non-U.S. plans in aggregate is 47 percent equities, 50 percent debt and 3 percent real estate funds. The equity targets for the U.S. and non-U.S. plans include an allocation to private equity partnerships that primarily focus on early-stage venture capital of 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

The fair value measurement levels are accounting terms that refer to different methods of valuing assets. The terms do not represent the relative risk or credit quality of an investment.

 

The 2011 fair value of the benefit plan assets, including the level within the fair value hierarchy, is shown in the tables below:

 

                                                                     
    U.S. Pension         Non-U.S. Pension  
    Fair Value Measurement at December 31, 2011, Using:               Fair Value Measurement at December 31, 2011, Using:        
    

Quoted Prices

in Active

Markets for

Identical

Assets

(Level 1)

   

Significant

Other

Observable

Inputs

(Level 2)

   

Significant

Unobservable

Inputs

(Level 3)

    Total         

Quoted Prices

in Active

Markets for

Identical

Assets

(Level 1)

   

Significant

Other

Observable

Inputs

(Level 2)

   

Significant

Unobservable

Inputs

(Level 3)

    Total  
    (millions of dollars)         (millions of dollars)  

Asset category:

                                                                   

Equity securities

                                                                   

U.S.

  $    –      $ 2,247 (1)     $      $ 2,247          $      $ 2,589 (1)    $      $ 2,589   

Non-U.S.

           2,636 (1)             2,636            194 (2)      4,835 (1)             5,029   

Private equity

                  458 (3)      458                          393 (3)      393   

Debt securities

                                                                   

Corporate

           2,728 (4)             2,728            2 (5)      1,857 (4)             1,859   

Government

           2,482 (4)             2,482            186 (5)      6,317 (4)             6,503   

Asset-backed

           11 (4)             11                   102 (4)             102   

Private mortgages

                                                  4 (6)      4   

Real estate funds

                                                  397 (7)      397   

Cash

           71 (8)              71            76        13 (9)              89   

Total at fair value

  $    –      $ 10,175      $ 458      $ 10,633          $ 458      $ 15,713      $ 794      $ 16,965   

Insurance contracts at contract value

                            23                                    152   

Total plan assets

                          $ 10,656                                  $ 17,117

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                 
    Other Postretirement  
    Fair Value Measurement at December 31, 2011, Using:         
    

Quoted Prices

in Active

Markets for

Identical

Assets

(Level 1)

      

Significant

Other

Observable

Inputs

(Level 2)

    

Significant

Unobservable

Inputs

(Level 3)

     Total  
    (millions of dollars)  

Asset category:

                                    

Equity securities

                                    

U.S.

  $   –         $ 166 (1)     $   –       $ 166   

Non-U.S.

              155 (1)               155   

Private equity

                      7 (2)       7   

Debt securities

                                    

Corporate

              77 (3)               77   

Government

              120 (3)               120   

Asset-backed

              12 (3)               12   

Private mortgages

                                

Cash

              1                 1   

Total at fair value

  $   –         $ 531       $   7       $ 538   

 

(1) For U.S. and non-U.S. equity securities held in the form of fund units that are redeemable at the measurement date, the unit value is treated as a Level 2 input. The fair value of the securities owned by the funds is based on observable quoted prices on active exchanges, which are Level 1 inputs.

 

(2) For private equity, fair value is generally established by using revenue or earnings multiples or other relevant market data including Initial Public Offerings.

 

(3) For corporate, government and asset-backed debt securities, fair value is based on observable inputs of comparable market transactions.

The change in the fair value in 2011 of Level 3 assets that use significant unobservable inputs to measure fair value is shown in the table below:

 

                                                                 
    2011  
    Pension             Other Postretirement  
    U.S.           Non U.S.                       
    

Private

Equity

    

Private

Mortgages

          

Private

Equity

    

Private

Mortgages

    

Real

Estate

            

Private

Equity

    

Private

Mortgages

 
    (millions of dollars)  
                   

Fair value at January 1

  $ 408       $ 128            $ 315       $ 4       $ 417              $ 5       $ 2   
                   

Net realized gains/(losses)

    1         5              7                 3                          

Net unrealized gains/(losses)

    56                      33                 6                2           

Net purchases/(sales)

    (7      (133           38                 (29)                        (2)   

Fair value at December 31

  $ 458       $            $ 393       $ 4       $ 397              $ 7       $   

 

The 2010 fair value of the benefit plan assets, including the level within the fair value hierarchy, is shown in the tables below:

 

                                                                     
    U.S. Pension         Non-U.S. Pension  
    Fair Value Measurement at December 31, 2010, Using:               Fair Value Measurement at December 31, 2010, Using:        
    

Quoted Prices

in Active

Markets for

Identical

Assets

(Level 1)

   

Significant

Other

Observable

Inputs

(Level 2)

   

Significant

Unobservable

Inputs

(Level 3)

    Total         

Quoted Prices

in Active

Markets for

Identical

Assets

(Level 1)

   

Significant

Other

Observable

Inputs

(Level 2)

   

Significant

Unobservable

Inputs

(Level 3)

    Total  
    (millions of dollars)         (millions of dollars)  

Asset category:

                                                                   

Equity securities

                                                                   

U.S.

  $     –      $ 2,648 (1)     $      $ 2,648          $      $ 2,443 (1)    $      $ 2,443   

Non-U.S.

           3,530 (1)             3,530            228 (2)       6,502 (1)             6,730   

Private equity

                  408 (3)       408                          315 (3)       315   

Debt securities

                                                                   

Corporate

           1,152 (4)              1,152            2 (5)       1,629 (4)             1,631   

Government

           2,847 (4)             2,847            146 (5)       4,709 (4)             4,855   

Asset-backed

           31 (4)             31                   98 (4)             98   

Private mortgages

                  128 (6)       128                          4 (6)      4   

Real estate funds

                                                  417 (7)      417   

Cash

    68                      68            63        51 (8)              114   

Total at fair value

  $   68      $ 10,208      $ 536      $ 10,812          $ 439      $ 15,432      $ 736      $ 16,607   

Insurance contracts at contract value

                            23                                    158   

Total plan assets

                          $ 10,835                                  $ 16,765   

 

(1) For U.S. and non-U.S. equity securities held in the form of fund units that are redeemable at the measurement date, the unit value is treated as a Level 2 input. The fair value of the securities owned by the funds is based on observable quoted prices on active exchanges, which are Level 1 inputs.

 

(2) For non-U.S. equity securities held in separate accounts, fair value is based on observable quoted prices on active exchanges.

 

(3) For private equity, fair value is generally established by using revenue or earnings multiples or other relevant market data including Initial Public Offerings.

 

(4) For corporate, government and asset-backed debt securities, fair value is based on observable inputs of comparable market transactions.

 

(5) For corporate and government debt securities that are traded on active exchanges, fair value is based on observable quoted prices.

 

(6) For private mortgages, fair value is based on proprietary credit spread matrices developed using market data and monthly surveys of active mortgage bankers.

 

(7) For real estate funds, fair value is based on appraised values developed using comparable market transactions.

 

(8) For cash balances that are subject to withdrawal penalties or other adjustments, the fair value is treated as a Level 2 input.

 

                                 
    Other Postretirement  
    Fair Value Measurement at December 31, 2010, Using:         
    

Quoted Prices
in Active
Markets for
Identical
Assets

(Level 1)

      

Significant

Other

Observable

Inputs

(Level 2)

    

Significant

Unobservable

Inputs

(Level 3)

     Total  
    (millions of dollars)  

Asset category:

                                    

Equity securities

                                    

U.S.

  $         $ 180 (1)     $       $ 180   

Non-U.S.

              191 (1)               191   

Private equity

                      5 (2)       5   

Debt securities

                                    

Corporate

              49 (3)               49   

Government

              117 (3)               117   

Asset-backed

              13 (3)               13   

Private mortgages

                      2 (4)       2   

Cash

      1                     –         1   

Total at fair value

  $ 1         $ 550       $ 7       $ 558   

 

(1) For U.S. and non-U.S. equity securities held in the form of fund units that are redeemable at the measurement date, the unit value is treated as a Level 2 input. The fair value of the securities owned by the funds is based on observable quoted prices on active exchanges, which are Level 1 inputs.

 

(2) For private equity, fair value is generally established by using revenue or earnings multiples or other relevant market data including Initial Public Offerings.

 

(3) For corporate, government and asset-backed debt securities, fair value is based on observable inputs of comparable market transactions.

 

(4) For private mortgages, fair value is based on proprietary credit spread matrices developed using market data and monthly surveys of active mortgage bankers.

The change in the fair value in 2010 of Level 3 assets that use significant unobservable inputs to measure fair value is shown in the table below:

 

                                                                 
    2010  
    Pension          Other Postretirement  
    U.S.          Non U.S.                      
     Private
Equity
      

Private

Mortgages

          Private
Equity
    

Private

Mortgages

    

Real

Estate

          Private
Equity
       Private
Mortgages
 
    (millions of dollars)  
                   

Fair value at January 1

  $ 349         $ 280           $ 239       $ 5       $ 413           $ 4         $ 3   
                   

Net realized gains/(losses)

              36             (1      (1                            1   

Net unrealized gains/(losses)

    47           (3          26         1         (4          1             

Net purchases/(sales)

    12           (185          51         (1      8                       (2

Fair value at December 31

  $ 408         $ 128           $ 315       $ 4       $ 417           $ 5         $ 2   

A summary of pension plans with an accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets is shown in the table below:

 

                                     
    Pension Benefits  
    U.S.         Non-U.S.  
     2011     2010          2011     2010  
    (millions of dollars)  

For funded pension plans with an accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets:

                                   

Projected benefit obligation

  $ 14,797      $ 13,184          $ 17,668      $ 9,865   

Accumulated benefit obligation

    12,606        11,383            16,175        9,074   

Fair value of plan assets

    10,655        10,834            12,832        7,131   
           

For unfunded pension plans:

                                   

Projected benefit obligation

  $ 2,238      $ 1,823          $ 6,632      $ 6,188   

Accumulated benefit obligation

    1,475        1,381            5,753        5,413   

 

                             
    Pension Benefits         Other Postretirement
Benefits
 
     U.S.     Non-U.S.         
    (millions of dollars)  

Estimated 2012 amortization from accumulated other comprehensive income:

                           

Net actuarial loss/(gain) (1)

  $ 1,033      $ 889          $ 173   

Prior service cost (2)

    7        109            34   

 

 

 

                                     
       Pension Benefits            Other Postretirement Benefits  
        U.S.        Non-U.S.             Gross        Medicare Subsidy Receipt  
       (millions of dollars)  
           

Contributions expected in 2012

     $ 1,650         $ 1,250             $         $   

Benefit payments expected in:

                                               

2012

       1,490           1,342               442           23   

2013

       1,579           1,360               458           25   

2014

       1,547           1,383               472           26   

2015

       1,524           1,418               485           27   

2016

       1,489           1,462               497           28   

2017 - 2021

       6,616           7,731               2,611           163