Note 15. Employee Benefit Plans

The Partnership sponsors and maintains the Global Partners LP 401(k) Savings and Profit Sharing Plan (the “Global 401(k) Plan”), a qualified defined contribution plan. Eligible employees may elect to contribute up to 100% of their eligible compensation to the Global 401(k) Plan for each payroll period, subject to annual dollar limitations which are periodically adjusted by the IRS. The General Partner makes safe harbor matching contributions to the Global Partners 401(k) Plan equal to 100% of the participant’s elective contributions that do not exceed 3% of the participant’s eligible compensation and 50% of the participant’s elective contributions that exceed 3% but do not exceed 5% of the participant’s eligible compensation. The General Partner also makes discretionary non‑matching contributions for certain groups of employees in amounts up to 2% of eligible compensation. Profit‑sharing contributions may also be made at the sole discretion of the General Partner’s board of directors.

GMG sponsors and maintains the Global Montello Group Corp. 401(k) Savings and Profit Sharing Plan (the “GMG 401(k) Plan”), a qualified defined contribution plan. Eligible employees may elect to contribute up to 100% of their eligible compensation to the GMG 401(k) Savings and Profit Sharing Plan for each payroll period, subject to annual dollar limitations which are periodically adjusted by the IRS. GMG makes safe harbor matching contributions to the 401(k) Savings and Profit Sharing Plan equal to 100% of the participant’s elective contributions that do not exceed 3% of the participant’s eligible compensation and 50% of the participant’s elective contributions that exceed 3% but do not exceed 5% of the participant’s eligible compensation. Profit‑sharing contributions may also be made at the sole discretion of GMG’s board of directors.

The Global 401(k) Plan and the GMG 401(k) Plan collectively had expenses of approximately $3.5 million, $3.1 million and $3.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

In addition, the General Partner sponsors and maintains the Global Partners LP Pension Plan (the “Global Pension Plan),” and GMG sponsors and maintains the Global Montello Group Corp. Pension Plan (the “GMG Pension Plan”), each being a qualified defined benefit pension plan. The Global Pension Plan and the GMG Pension Plan were amended to freeze participation and benefit accruals effective in 2009 and 2012, respectively.

The following table presents each plan’s funded status and the total amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets at December 31 (in thousands):


	December 31, 2019
	Global		GMG
	Pension Plan		Pension Plan		Total
Projected benefit obligation	$	17,030	$	4,459	$	21,489
Fair value of plan assets		14,267		2,832		17,099
Net unfunded pension liability	$	2,763	$	1,627	$	4,390


	December 31, 2018
	Global		GMG
	Pension Plan		Pension Plan		Total
Projected benefit obligation	$	16,213	$	3,873	$	20,086
Fair value of plan assets		13,372		2,428		15,800
Net unfunded pension liability	$	2,841	$	1,445	$	4,286

Total actual return on plan assets was $3.9 million and ($0.7 million) in 2019 and 2018, respectively.

The following presents the components of the net periodic change in benefit obligation for the Pension Plans for the years ended December 31 (in thousands):


	2019		2018		2017
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	20,086	$	22,217	$	20,631
Interest cost		767		714		724
Actuarial (gain) loss		3,839		(1,347)		2,392
Benefits paid		(3,203)		(1,498)		(1,530)
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	21,489	$	20,086	$	22,217

The following presents the weighted-average actuarial assumptions used in determining each plan’s annual pension expense for the years ended December 31:


	Global Pension Plan			GMG Pension Plan
	2019	2018	2017	2019	2018	2017
Discount rate	3.0%	4.1%	3.4%	3.2%	4.2%	3.6%
Expected return on plan assets	7.0%	7.0%	7.0%	7.0%	7.0%	7.0%

The discount rates were selected by performing a cash flow/bond matching analysis based on the FTSE Above Median Double-A Pension Discount Curve for December 2019. The discount rates for 2019 include updated mortality assumptions to reflect the most recently available mortality improvement scale released by the Society of Actuaries. The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is determined by using each plan’s respective target allocation and historical returns for each asset class.

The fundamental investment objective of each of the Pension Plans is to provide a rate of return sufficient to fund the retirement benefits under the applicable Pension Plan at a reasonable cost to the applicable plan sponsor. At a minimum, the rate of return should equal or exceed the discount rate assumed by the Pension Plan’s actuaries in projecting the funding cost of the Pension Plan under the applicable Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) standards. To do so, the General Partner’s Pension Committee may appoint one or more investment managers to invest all or portions of the assets of the Pension Plans in accordance with specific investment guidelines, objectives, standards and benchmarks.

The following presents the Pension Plans’ benefits as of December 31, 2019 expected to be paid in each of the next five fiscal years and in the aggregate for the next five fiscal years thereafter (in thousands):


2020	$	1,647
2021		1,072
2022		1,281
2023		920
2024		942
2025—2029		7,782
Total	$	13,644

The cost of annual contributions to the Pension Plans is not significant to the General Partner, the Partnership or its subsidiaries. Total contributions made by the General Partner, the Partnership and its subsidiaries to the Pension Plans were approximately $0.6 million, $0.4 million and $0.4 million in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.