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Employee Benefit Plans
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Employee Benefit Plans EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
DEFINED BENEFIT PLANS
Certain of our employees are covered by company sponsored pension plans. Our primary pension plans in 2021 included four U.S. plans and seven non-U.S. pension plans, primarily in the UK, Germany, and Canada, all with pension assets or obligations greater than $20 million. We use a December 31 measurement date for these plans. These defined benefit plans generally provide benefits to employees based on formulas recognizing length of service and earnings; however, the majority of these plans are either frozen or closed to new entrants. We also provide certain postretirement health care benefits, through unfunded plans, to a closed group of U.S. employees who retire and meet certain age and service requirements. The accumulated postretirement benefit obligation related to these plans was $50 million and $62 million at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Funded Status
The funded status position represents the difference between the benefit obligation and the plan assets. The projected benefit obligation ("PBO") for pension benefits represents the actuarial present value of benefits attributed to employee services and compensation and includes an assumption about future compensation levels. The accumulated benefit obligation ("ABO") is the actuarial present value of pension benefits attributed to employee
service to date at present compensation levels. The ABO differs from the PBO in that the ABO does not include any assumptions about future compensation levels.
Below is the reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of benefit obligations, fair value of plan assets and the funded status of our pension plans.
 Pension Benefits
  20212020
Change in benefit obligation:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year$3,806 $3,451 
Service cost27 27 
Interest cost64 77 
Actuarial (gain) loss (1)
(154)393 
Benefits paid(111)(101)
Curtailments(9)(3)
Settlements(33)(79)
Other2 1 
Foreign currency translation adjustments(42)40 
Benefit obligation at end of year3,550 3,806 
Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year3,202 3,004 
Actual return on plan assets83 347 
Employer contributions28 20 
Benefits paid(111)(101)
Settlements(33)(79)
Foreign currency translation adjustments(22)11 
Fair value of plan assets at end of year3,147 3,202 
Funded status - underfunded at end of year$(403)$(604)
Accumulated benefit obligation$3,497 $3,755 
(1)The actuarial (gain) loss was primarily related to a change in the discount rate used to measure the benefit obligation for our plans in 2021 and 2020.
The amounts recognized in the consolidated statements of financial position consist of the following at December 31:
 Pension Benefits
  20212020
Noncurrent assets$109 $14 
Current liabilities(17)(18)
Noncurrent liabilities(495)(600)
Net amount recognized$(403)$(604)
Information for the plans with ABOs and PBOs in excess of plan assets is as follows at December 31:
 Pension Benefits
  20212020
Projected benefit obligation$1,476 $3,390 
Accumulated benefit obligation$1,423 $3,340 
Fair value of plan assets$964 $2,772 
We have a U.S. non-qualified supplemental pension plan (“BH SPP”) for certain employees which are included in the benefit obligations and funded status in the tables above. In order to meet a portion of our obligations of the BH SPP, we have established a trust comprised primarily of mutual fund assets. The value of these assets were $45 million and $44 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. These assets are not included as plan assets or in the funded status amounts in the tables above and below.
Net Periodic Cost
The components of net periodic cost are as follows:
Pension Benefits
202120202019
Service cost$27 $27 $21 
Interest cost64 77 90 
Expected return on plan assets(130)(121)(122)
Amortization of prior service credit
1 1 1 
Amortization of net actuarial loss40 34 17 
Curtailment / settlement loss 2 10 9 
Net periodic cost$4 $28 $16 
The service cost component of the net periodic cost is included in "operating income (loss)" and all other components are included in "Other non-operating income (loss), net" caption of the consolidated statements of income (loss).
Assumptions Used in Benefit Calculations
Accounting requirements necessitate the use of assumptions to reflect the uncertainties and the length of time over which the pension obligations will be paid. The actual amount of future benefit payments will depend upon when participants retire, the amount of their benefit at retirement and how long they live. To reflect the obligation in today’s dollars, we discount the future payments using a rate that matches the time frame over which the payments are expected to be made. We also need to assume a long-term rate of return that will be earned on investments used to fund these payments.
Another assumption used is the interest crediting rate for our U.S. qualified cash balance plan. Under the provisions of this pension plan, a hypothetical cash balance account has been established for each participant. Such accounts receive quarterly interest credits based on a prescribed formula.
Weighted average assumptions used to determine benefit obligations for these plans are as follows:
 Pension Benefits
  20212020
Discount rate2.15 %1.66 %
Rate of compensation increase3.21 %3.25 %
Interest crediting rate2.60 %2.60 %
Weighted average assumptions used to determine net periodic cost for these plans are as follows:
Pension Benefits
202120202019
Discount rate1.66 %2.34 %3.43 %
Expected long-term return on plan assets
4.07 %4.20 %5.48 %
Interest crediting rate2.60 %2.60 %3.15 %
We determine the discount rate using a bond matching model, whereby the weighted average yields on high-quality fixed-income securities have maturities consistent with the timing of benefit payments. Lower discount rates increase the size of the benefit obligations and pension expense in the following year; higher discount rates reduce the size of the benefit obligation and subsequent-year pension expense. The compensation assumption is used in our active plans to estimate the annual rate at which the pay for plan participants will grow. If the rate of growth assumed increases, the size of the pension obligations will increase.
The expected return on plan assets is the estimated long-term rate of return that will be earned on the investments used to fund the pension obligations. To determine this rate, we consider the current and target composition of plan investments, our historical returns earned, and our expectations about the future.
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
The amount recorded before-tax in accumulated other comprehensive loss related to our pension plans consists of the following at December 31:
 Pension Benefits
  20212020
Net actuarial loss$365 $527 
Net prior service cost17 18 
Total$382 $545 
Plan Assets
We have investment committees that meet regularly to review portfolio returns and to determine asset-mix targets based on asset/liability studies. Third-party investment consultants assist these committees in developing asset allocation strategies to determine our expected rates of return and expected risk for various investment portfolios. The investment committees considered these strategies in the formal establishment of the current asset-mix targets based on the projected risk and return levels for all major asset classes.
The table below presents the fair value of the pension assets at December 31:
20212020
Debt securities
Fixed income and cash investment funds$1,890 $1,807 
Equity securities
Global equity securities (1)
250 346 
U.S. equity securities (1)
222 299 
Insurance contracts112 120 
Real estate59 85 
Private equities48 52 
Other investments (2)
566 493 
Total plan assets$3,147 $3,202 
(1)Include direct investments and investment funds.
(2)Consists primarily of asset allocation fund investments.
Plan assets valued using Net Asset Value ("NAV") as a practical expedient amounted to $3,028 million and $3,072 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The percentages of plan assets valued using NAV by investment fund type for equity securities, fixed income and cash, and alternative investments were 16%, 62%, and 22% as of December 31, 2021, respectively, and 21%, 59%, and 20% as of December 31, 2020, respectively. Those investments that were measured at fair value using NAV as a practical expedient were excluded from the fair value hierarchy. The practical expedient was not applied for investments with a fair value of $119 million and $130 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. There were investments classified within Level 3 of $112 million and $120 million for non U.S. insurance contracts as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Funding Policy
The funding policy for our Pension Benefits is to contribute amounts sufficient to meet minimum funding requirements as set forth in employee benefit and tax laws plus such additional amounts as we may determine to be appropriate. In 2021, we contributed approximately $28 million. We anticipate we will contribute between approximately $30 million to $35 million to our pension plans in 2022.
The following table presents the expected benefit payments for Pension Benefits over the next 10 years. For company sponsored pension plans, the benefit payments are made by the respective pension trust funds.
YearPension Benefits
2022$161 
2023132 
2024135 
2025137 
2026142 
2027-2031744 
DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS
Our primary defined contribution plan during 2021 was the Company-sponsored U.S. 401(k) plan ("401(k) Plan").  The 401(k) Plan allows eligible employees to contribute portions of their eligible compensation to an investment trust.  The Company matches employee contributions at the rate of $1.00 per $1.00 employee contribution for the first 5% of the employee's eligible compensation, and such contributions vest immediately. In addition, we make cash contributions for all eligible employees of 4% of their eligible compensation and such
contributions are fully vested after three years of employment.  The 401(k) Plan provides several investment options, for which the employee has sole investment discretion; however, the 401(k) Plan does not offer Baker Hughes' common stock as an investment option.  Our costs for the 401(k) Plan and several other U.S. and non-U.S. defined contribution plans amounted to $194 million and $236 million, in 2021 and 2020, respectively.
We have two non-qualified defined contribution plans that are invested through trusts.  The assets and corresponding liabilities were $322 million and $314 million at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and are included in the captions "All other assets" and "Liabilities for pensions and other postretirement benefits," respectively, in our consolidated statements of financial position.