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Employee Benefits
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Employee Benefits Employee Benefits
Conversion of Defined Benefit Pension Plan and Benefit Equalization Plan to Cash Balance Plan Design
Effective November 1, 2020, the Qualified Defined Benefit Pension Plan (“Defined Benefit Plan”) and the Non-Qualified Benefit Equalization Plan (“BEP”) sponsored by the Company were amended to convert the plans from a traditional final average earnings plan design to a cash balance plan design. Benefits earned under the final average earnings plan design were frozen at October 31, 2020. Starting November 1, 2020, future benefits are earned under the cash balance plan design. Under the cash balance plan design, hypothetical account balances are established for each participant and pension benefits are generally stated as the lump sum amount in that hypothetical account. Contribution credits equal to a percentage of a participant’s annual compensation (if the participant works at least 1,000 hours during the year) and interest credits equal to the greater of the 30-Year Treasury rate for September preceding the current plan year or 3.5% are added to a participant’s account each year. For employees hired prior to November 1, 2020, annual contribution credits will generally increase as the participant remains employed with the Company. Employees hired on and after November 1, 2020 will receive annual contribution credits equal to 5% of annual compensation, with no future increases. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, since a cash balance plan is a defined benefit plan, the annual retirement benefit payable at normal retirement (age 65) is an annuity, which is the actuarial equivalent of the participant’s account balance under the cash balance plan design, plus their frozen benefit under the final average earnings plan design. However, under the Defined Benefit Plan, participants may elect, with the consent of their spouses if they are married, to have the benefits distributed as a lump sum rather than an annuity. The lump sum is equal to the sum of the actuarial equivalent of their frozen benefit under the final average earnings plan design, plus their cash balance account. Under the BEP, benefits are generally only payable as a lump sum, which is equal to the sum of the actuarial equivalent of their frozen benefit under the final average earnings plan design, plus their cash balance account.
Pension Plans
The Company provides pension benefits for its employees through membership in the Savings Banks Employees’ Retirement Association. The plan through which benefits are provided is a noncontributory, qualified defined benefit plan. The Company’s annual contribution to the Defined Benefit Plan is based upon standards established by the Pension Protection Act. The contribution is based on an actuarial method intended to provide not only for benefits attributable to service to date, but also for those expected to be earned in the future. The Defined Benefit Plan has a plan year end of October 31.
The Company has an unfunded Defined Benefit Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“DB SERP”) that provides certain retired and currently employed officers with defined pension benefits in excess of qualified plan limits imposed by U.S. federal tax law. The DB SERP has a plan year end of December 31.
In addition, the Company has an unfunded Benefit Equalization Plan (“BEP”) to provide retirement benefits to certain employees whose retirement benefits under the qualified pension plan are limited per the Internal Revenue Code. The BEP has a plan year end of October 31.
The Company also has an unfunded Outside Directors’ Retainer Continuance Plan (“ODRCP”) that provides pension benefits to outside directors who retire from service. The ODRCP has a plan year end of December 31. Effective December 31, 2020, the Company closed the ODRCP to new participants and froze benefit accruals for active participants.
Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost
The components of net pension expense for the plans for the periods indicated are as follows:
For the Three Months Ended March 31,
20212020
(In Thousands)
Components of net periodic benefit cost:
Service cost$7,896 $6,232 
Interest cost1,269 2,616 
Expected return on plan assets(8,141)(7,425)
Prior service (credit) cost(2,946)6 
Recognized net actuarial loss3,538 2,361 
Net periodic benefit cost$1,616 $3,790 
Service costs for the Defined Benefit Plan, the BEP, and the DB SERP are recognized within salaries and employee benefits in the statement of income. Service costs for the ODRCP are recognized within professional services in the statement of income. The remaining components of net periodic benefit cost are recognized in other noninterest expense in the statement of income. The Company's non-service cost expenses for the Defined Benefit Plan and the BEP decreased by $3.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2020. This was primarily due to the conversion of the Company's Defined Benefit Plan and BEP from a traditional final average earnings plan design to a cash balance plan design. In accordance with the Pension Protection Act, the Company was not required to make any contributions to the Defined Benefit Plan for the plan year beginning November 1, 2020, and did not make any contributions to the Defined Benefit Plan during the three months ended March 31, 2021. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company made contributions to the Defined Benefit Plan of $32.5 million.
Rabbi Trust Variable Interest Entity
The Company established a rabbi trust to meet its obligations under certain executive non-qualified retirement benefits and deferred compensation plans and to mitigate the expense volatility of the aforementioned retirement plans. The rabbi trust is considered a variable interest entity (“VIE”) as the equity investment at risk is insufficient to permit the trust to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support from the Company. The Company is considered the primary beneficiary of the rabbi trust as it has the power to direct the activities of the rabbi trust that significantly affect the rabbi trust’s economic performance and it has the obligation to absorb losses of the rabbi trust that could potentially be significant to the rabbi trust by virtue of its contingent call options on the rabbi trust’s assets in the event of the Company’s bankruptcy. As the primary beneficiary of this VIE, the Company consolidates the rabbi trust investments. In general, the rabbi trust investments and any earnings received thereon are accumulated, reinvested and used exclusively for trust purposes. These rabbi trust investments consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, U.S. government agency obligations, equity securities, mutual funds and other exchange-traded funds, and are recorded at fair value in other assets on the Company's consolidated balance sheet. Changes in fair value are recorded in noninterest income. At March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 the amount of rabbi trust investments at fair value were $94.0 million and $91.7 million, respectively.
Investments in rabbi trust accounts are recorded at fair value within the Company's consolidated balance sheet with changes in fair value recorded through noninterest income. The following table presents the book value, mark-to-market, and fair value of assets held in rabbi trust accounts by asset type:
As of March 31, 2021As of December 31, 2020
Book ValueMark-to-MarketFair ValueBook ValueMark-to-MarketFair Value
Asset Type(In thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents$5,230 $— $5,230 $5,157 $— $5,157 
Equities61,662 18,828 80,490 59,235 19,492 78,727 
Fixed income8,110 175 8,285 7,441 358 7,799 
Total assets$75,002 $19,003 $94,005 $71,833 $19,850 $91,683