Employee Benefit Plans

Defined Benefit Plan:

The following tables summarize changes in the benefit obligation, the plan assets and the funded status of our pension plan as well as the components of net periodic benefit costs, including key assumptions (in thousands). The measurement dates for plan assets and obligations were December 31, 2018 and 2017.



	December 31,
	2018			2017
Change in Projected Benefit Obligation:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	58,998		$	52,975
Service cost	1,295			1,223
Interest cost	2,056			2,123
Actuarial (gain) loss ⁽¹⁾	(4,478		)	4,502
Benefit payments	(2,112		)	(1,825		)
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	55,759		$	58,998
Change in Plan Assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	53,808		$	45,498
Actual return on plan assets	(1,894		)	7,635
Employer contributions	1,000			2,500
Benefit payments	(2,112		)	(1,825		)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$	50,802		$	53,808
Unfunded status at end of year (included in accounts payable and accrued expenses in 2018 and 2017)	$	(4,957	)	$	(5,190	)
Accumulated benefit obligation	$	55,683		$	58,860
Net loss recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss	$	15,050		$	15,135

___________________


(1)	The change in actuarial (gain) loss is associated primarily to census and mortality table updates and an increase in the discount rate in 2018.

The following is the required information for other changes in plan assets and benefit obligation recognized in other comprehensive (income) loss (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
Net loss	$	1,143		$	82		$	1,719
Amortization of net loss ⁽¹⁾	(1,228		)	(1,475		)	(1,552		)
Total recognized in other comprehensive (income) loss	$	(85	)	$	(1,393	)	$	167
Total recognized in net periodic benefit cost and other comprehensive (income) loss	$	767		$	213		$	2,103

___________________


(1)	The estimated net loss that will be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive loss into net periodic benefit cost over the next fiscal year is $1.2 million.

The following is the required information with an accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2018		2017
Projected benefit obligation	$	55,759	$	58,998
Accumulated benefit obligation	55,683		58,860
Fair value of plan assets	50,802		53,808

The components of net periodic benefit cost are as follows (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
Service cost	$	1,295		$	1,223		$	1,277
Interest cost	2,056			2,123			2,078
Expected return on plan assets	(3,727		)	(3,215		)	(2,971		)
Amortization of net loss	1,228			1,475			1,552
Total	$	852		$	1,606		$	1,936

The components of net periodic benefit cost other than the service cost component are included in Interest and Other Income (Expense) in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

The assumptions used to develop net periodic benefit cost are shown below:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
Discount rate	3.50	%	4.01	%	4.11	%
Salary scale increases	3.50	%	3.50	%	3.50	%
Long-term rate of return on assets	7.00	%	7.00	%	7.00	%

The selection of the discount rate is made annually after comparison to yields based on high quality fixed-income investments. The salary scale is the composite rate which reflects anticipated inflation, merit increases, and promotions for the group of covered participants. The long-term rate of return is a composite rate for the trust. It is derived as the sum of the percentages invested in each principal asset class included in the portfolio multiplied by their respective expected rates of return. We considered the historical returns and the future expectations for returns for each asset class, as well as the target asset allocation of the pension portfolio. This analysis resulted in the selection of 7.00% as the long-term rate of return assumption for 2018.

The assumptions used to develop the actuarial present value of the benefit obligation are shown below:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
Discount rate	4.12	%	3.50	%	4.01	%
Salary scale increases	3.50	%	3.50	%	3.50	%

The expected contribution to be paid for the Retirement Plan by us during 2019 is approximately $1.0 million. The expected benefit payments for the next 10 years for the Retirement Plan is as follows (in thousands):



2019	$	2,395
2020	2,462
2021	2,618
2022	2,761
2023	2,920
2024-2028	15,774

The participant data used in determining the liabilities and costs for the Retirement Plan was collected as of January 1, 2018, and no significant changes have occurred through December 31, 2018.

At December 31, 2018, our investment asset allocation compared to our benchmarking allocation model for our plan assets was as follows:



	Portfolio		Benchmark
Cash and Short-Term Investments	5	%	4	%
U.S. Stocks	49	%	54	%
International Stocks	11	%	10	%
U.S. Bonds	29	%	29	%
International Bonds	5	%	3	%
Other	1	%	—	%
Total	100	%	100	%

The fair value of plan assets was determined based on publicly quoted market prices for identical assets, which are classified as Level 1 observable inputs. The allocation of the fair value of plan assets was as follows:



	December 31,
	2018		2017
Cash and Short-Term Investments	20	%	17	%
Large Company Funds	33	%	36	%
Mid Company Funds	7	%	6	%
Small Company Funds	6	%	6	%
International Funds	8	%	10	%
Fixed Income Funds	18	%	16	%
Growth Funds	8	%	9	%
Total	100	%	100	%

Concentrations of risk within our equity portfolio are investments classified within the following sectors: technology, financial services, healthcare, consumer cyclical goods and industrial, which represents approximately 23%, 17%, 16%, 14% and 10% of total equity investments, respectively.

Defined Contribution Plans:

Compensation expense related to our defined contribution plans was $3.8 million in 2018, $3.9 million in 2017 and $3.5 million in 2016.