Employee Benefit Plans

Overview — Defined benefit pension plans cover a portion of our salaried and hourly paid employees, including certain employees in foreign countries. Beginning in 2001, we discontinued providing these pension benefits generally to newly hired employees. Effective January 31, 2018, we will no longer provide service credits to active participants.

We have domestic postretirement plans that provide health and life insurance benefits to certain retirees and their dependents. Beginning in 2003, we discontinued providing these postretirement benefits generally to newly hired employees.

The plan year-end date for all our plans is December 31.

Actuarial Gains and Losses - As indicated in Note 2, actuarial gains and losses related to our pension and postretirement plans are recorded to earnings during the fourth quarter of each year, unless earlier remeasurement is required. Below is a summary of transactions during the first three quarters of 2015, 2016 and 2017 that required remeasurement of our pension and postretirement plans.

On July 14, 2015, we amended the SPX U.S. Pension Plan (the “U.S. Plan”) and the Supplemental Individual Account Retirement Plan (“SIARP”) to freeze all benefits for active non-union participants. The amendment resulted in a curtailment gain of $5.1. In connection with the amendment, we remeasured the assets and liabilities of the U.S. Plan and the SIARP, which resulted in a charge to net periodic pension benefit expense of $11.4 during 2015.

In connection with the Spin-Off, participants in the U.S. Plan that were transferred to SPX FLOW became eligible to elect a lump-sum payment option in lieu of a future pension benefit under the U.S. Plan. During the second quarter of 2016, approximately 9%, or $25.2, of the projected benefit obligation of the U.S. Plan was settled as a result of lump-sum payments. In connection with these lump-sum payments, we remeasured the assets and liabilities of the U.S. Plan during the second quarter of 2016, which resulted in a charge to net periodic pension benefit expense of $1.0 during 2016.

During the second quarter of 2016, we made lump-sum payments to certain participants of the SIARP, settling approximately 22%, or $2.7, of the SIARP’s projected benefit obligation. In connection with these lump-sum payments, we remeasured the liabilities of the SIARP, which resulted in a charge to net periodic pension benefit expense of $0.8 during 2016.

In July 2014, we discontinued our sponsorship of post-65 age healthcare plans, effective January 1, 2015, which resulted in eligible retirees being transitioned to coverage in the individual healthcare insurance market that we subsidize through health reimbursement accounts. In November 2014, a lawsuit was filed challenging certain aspects of this action. In September 2017, we received a favorable ruling related to the lawsuit. During the third quarter of 2017, in connection with the favorable ruling, we reduced our unfunded liability related to postretirement benefits by $26.8. The offset for the reduction of the unfunded liability was recorded to accumulated other comprehensive income and represents unrecognized prior service credits. These unrecognized prior service credits are being recorded to net periodic postretirement benefit (income) expense over a period of approximately eight years, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2017. In addition, we remeasured our unfunded liability related to postretirement benefits, which resulted in a gain within net periodic postretirement benefit expense and a reduction of the unfunded liability of $2.6 during the third quarter of 2017.

Defined Benefit Pension Plans

Plan assets — Our investment strategy is based on the long-term growth and protection of principle while mitigating overall risk to ensure that funds are available to pay benefit obligations. The domestic plan assets are invested in a broad range of investment classes, including fixed income securities and domestic and international equities. We engage various investment managers who are regularly evaluated on long-term performance, adherence to investment guidelines and the ability to manage risk commensurate with the investment style and objective for which they were hired. We continuously monitor the value of assets by class and routinely rebalance our portfolio with the goal of meeting our target allocations.

The strategy for bonds emphasizes investment-grade corporate and government debt with maturities matching a portion of the longer duration pension liabilities. The bonds strategy also includes a high yield element, which is generally shorter in duration. The strategy for equity assets is to minimize concentrations of risk by investing primarily in companies in a diversified mix of industries worldwide, while targeting neutrality in exposure to global versus regional markets, fund types and fund managers. A small portion of U.S. plan assets (Level 3 assets) is allocated to private equity partnerships and real estate asset fund investments for diversification, providing opportunities for above market returns.

Allowable investments under the plan agreements include fixed income securities, equity securities, mutual funds, venture capital funds, real estate and cash and equivalents. In addition, investments in futures and option contracts, commodities and other derivatives are allowed in commingled fund allocations managed by professional investment managers. Investments prohibited under the plan agreements include private placements and short selling of stock. No shares of our common stock were held by our defined benefit pension plans as of December 31, 2017 or 2016.

Actual asset allocation percentages of each class of our domestic and foreign pension plan assets as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, along with the targeted asset investment allocation percentages, each of which is based on the midpoint of an allocation range, were as follows:

Domestic Pension Plans



	Actual Allocations				Mid-point of Target Allocation Range
	2017		2016		2017
Fixed income common trust funds	70	%	44	%	65	%
Commingled global fund allocation	12	%	19	%	18	%
Corporate bonds	1	%	11	%	—	%
Global equity common trust funds	7	%	12	%	5	%
U.S. Government securities	9	%	12	%	10	%
Short-term investments ⁽¹⁾	1	%	2	%	2	%
Total	100	%	100	%	100	%

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⁽¹⁾	Short-term investments are generally invested in actively managed common trust funds or interest-bearing accounts.

Foreign Pension Plans



	Actual Allocations				Mid-point of Target Allocation Range
	2017		2016		2017
Global equity common trust funds	17	%	16	%	14	%
Global equities	—	%	8	%	—	%
Fixed income common trust funds	46	%	30	%	39	%
Commingled global fund allocation	34	%	20	%	36	%
Non-U.S. Government securities	—	%	24	%	7	%
Short-term investments ⁽¹⁾	3	%	2	%	4	%
Total	100	%	100	%	100	%

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⁽¹⁾	Short-term investments are generally invested in actively managed common trust funds or interest-bearing accounts.

The fair values of pension plan assets at December 31, 2017, by asset class, were as follows:



	Total		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Asset class:
Debt securities:
Fixed income common trust funds ^{(1) (2)}	$	270.2	$	—	$	270.2	$	—
Corporate bonds	1.6		—		1.6		—
Non-U.S. Government securities	—		—		—		—
U.S. Government securities	25.2		—		25.2		—
Equity securities:
Global equity common trust funds ⁽¹⁾ ⁽³⁾	50.6		—		50.6		—
Global equities:	—		—		—		—
Alternative investments:
Commingled global fund allocations ⁽¹⁾ ⁽⁴⁾	95.1		—		95.1		—
Other:
Short-term investments ⁽⁵⁾	9.4		9.4		—		—
Other	1.0		—		—		1.0
Total	$	453.1	$	9.4	$	442.7	$	1.0

The fair values of pension plan assets at December 31, 2016, by asset class, were as follows:



	Total		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Asset class:
Debt securities:
Fixed income common trust funds ^{(1) (2)}	$	163.1	$	—	$	163.1	$	—
Corporate bonds	29.1		—		29.1		—
Non-U.S. Government securities	39.0		—		39.0		—
U.S. Government securities	31.1		—		31.1		—
Equity securities:
Global equity common trust funds ⁽¹⁾ ⁽³⁾	57.6		—		57.6		—
Global equities:	13.2		—		13.2		—
Alternative investments:
Commingled global fund allocations ⁽¹⁾ ⁽⁴⁾	80.6		—		80.6		—
Other:
Short-term investments ⁽⁵⁾	10.5		10.5		—		—
Other	1.0		—		—		1.0
Total	$	425.2	$	10.5	$	413.7	$	1.0

⁽¹⁾

Common/commingled trust funds are similar to mutual funds, with a daily net asset value per share measured by the fund sponsor and used as the basis for current transactions. These investments, however, are not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and participation is not open to the public. The funds are valued at the net asset value per share multiplied by the number of shares held as of the measurement date.


⁽²⁾	This class represents investments in actively managed common trust funds that invest in a variety of fixed income investments, which may include corporate bonds, both U.S. and non-U.S. municipal securities, interest rate swaps, options and futures.


⁽³⁾	This class represents investments in actively managed common trust funds that invest primarily in equity securities, which may include common stocks, options and futures.


⁽⁴⁾	This class represents investments in actively managed common trust funds with investments in both equity and debt securities. The investments may include common stock, corporate bonds, U.S. and non-U.S. municipal securities, interest rate swaps, options and futures.


⁽⁵⁾	Short-term investments are valued at $1.00/unit, which approximates fair value. Amounts are generally invested in actively managed common trust funds or interest-bearing accounts.

Our domestic pension plans participate in a securities lending program through J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, National Association. Securities loaned are required to be fully collateralized by cash or other securities. The gross collateral and the related liability to return collateral amounted to $0.5 and $2.9 at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and have been included within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy in the tables above.

The following table summarizes changes in the fair value of Level 3 assets for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016:



	Global Equity Common Trust Funds		Commingled Global Fund Allocations		Fixed Income Common Trust Funds		Other		Total
Balance at December 31, 2015	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	1.0	$	1.0
Transfer from Level 3 to Level 2 assets	—		—		—		—		—
Sales	—		—		—		—		—
Balance at December 31, 2016	—		—		—		1.0		1.0
Transfer from Level 3 to Level 2 assets	—		—		—		—		—
Sales	—		—		—		—		—
Balance at December 31, 2017	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	1.0	$	1.0

Employer Contributions — We currently fund U.S. pension plans in amounts equal to the minimum funding requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, plus additional amounts that may be approved from time to time. During 2017, we made no contributions to our qualified domestic pension plans, and direct benefit payments of $6.3 to our non-qualified domestic pension plans. In 2018, we do not expect to make any minimum required funding contributions to our qualified domestic pension plans and expect to make direct benefit payments of $6.0 to our non-qualified domestic pension plans.

In 2017, we made contributions of $3.4 to our foreign pension plans. In 2018, we expect to make contributions of $2.5 to our foreign pension plans.

Estimated Future Benefit Payments — Following is a summary, as of December 31, 2017, of the estimated future benefit payments for our pension plans in each of the next five fiscal years and in the aggregate for five fiscal years thereafter. Benefit payments are paid from plan assets or directly by us for our non-funded plans. The expected benefit payments are estimated based on the same assumptions used at December 31, 2017 to measure our obligations and include benefits attributable to estimated future employee service.

Estimated future benefit payments: (Domestic and foreign pension plans)

	Domestic Pension Benefits		Foreign Pension Benefits
2018	$	24.8	$	4.7
2019	22.6		5.5
2020	23.1		5.3
2021	23.3		5.5
2022	23.9		6.4
Subsequent five years	115.1		36.1

Obligations and Funded Status — The funded status of our pension plans is dependent upon many factors, including returns on invested assets and the level of market interest rates. Our non-funded pension plans account for $71.5 of the current underfunded status, as these plans are not required to be funded. The following tables show the domestic and foreign pension plans’ funded status and amounts recognized in our consolidated balance sheets:



	Domestic Pension Plans						Foreign Pension Plans
	2017			2016			2017			2016
Change in projected benefit obligation:
Projected benefit obligation — beginning of year	$	348.1		$	371.1		$	157.6		$	155.7
Divestiture of Balcke Dürr ⁽¹⁾	—			—			—			(6.7		)
Service cost	0.3			0.4			—			—
Interest cost	13.4			13.9			4.9			5.6
Actuarial losses	16.5			9.5			6.7			27.4
Settlements ⁽²⁾	—			(36.4		)	—			—
Curtailment losses	0.9			—			—			—
Benefits paid	(22.1		)	(10.4		)	(8.1		)	(6.4		)
Foreign exchange and other	—			—			14.1			(18.0		)
Projected benefit obligation — end of year	$	357.1		$	348.1		$	175.2		$	157.6

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⁽¹⁾	Represents the transfer of Balcke Dürr’s pension liabilities as a result of the sale.


⁽²⁾	Amount in 2016 includes settlement payments of $27.9 in connection with lump-sum payment actions for the U.S. Plan and the SIARP.



	Domestic Pension Plans						Foreign Pension Plans
	2017			2016			2017			2016
Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets — beginning of year	$	261.9		$	279.2		$	163.3		$	163.5
Actual return on plan assets	23.6			19.5			10.6			25.6
Contributions (employer and employee)	6.3			10.0			3.4			0.5
Settlements	—			(36.4		)	—			—
Benefits paid	(22.1		)	(10.4		)	(8.7		)	(6.1		)
Foreign exchange and other	—			—			14.8			(20.2		)
Fair value of plan assets — end of year	$	269.7		$	261.9		$	183.4		$	163.3
Funded status at year-end	(87.4		)	(86.2		)	8.2			5.7
Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets consist of:
Other assets	$	—		$	—		$	8.4		$	6.3
Accrued expenses	(5.9		)	(5.9		)	—			—
Other long-term liabilities	(81.5		)	(80.3		)	(0.2		)	(0.6		)
Net amount recognized	$	(87.4	)	$	(86.2	)	$	8.2		$	5.7
Amount recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (pre-tax) consists of — net prior service credits	$	(0.6	)	$	(0.7	)	$	—		$	—

The following is information about our pension plans that had accumulated benefit obligations in excess of the fair value of their plan assets at December 31, 2017 and 2016:



	Domestic Pension Plans				Foreign Pension Plans
	2017		2016		2017		2016
Projected benefit obligation	$	357.1	$	348.1	$	0.2	$	43.8
Accumulated benefit obligation	357.1		347.9		0.2		43.8
Fair value of plan assets	269.7		261.9		—		43.2

The accumulated benefit obligation for all domestic and foreign pension plans was $357.1 and $175.2, respectively, at December 31, 2017 and $347.9 and $157.6, respectively, at December 31, 2016.

Components of Net Periodic Pension Benefit Expense (Income) — Net periodic pension benefit expense (income) for our domestic and foreign pension plans included the following components:

Domestic Pension Plans



	Year ended December 31,
	2017			2016			2015
Service cost	$	0.3		$	0.4		$	2.5
Interest cost	13.4			13.9			16.5
Expected return on plan assets	(10.1		)	(12.9		)	(18.0		)
Amortization of unrecognized prior service credits	(0.1		)	(0.2		)	(0.1		)
Recognized net actuarial losses ⁽¹⁾	3.9			3.2			18.9
Total net periodic pension benefit expense	$	7.4		$	4.4		$	19.8

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⁽¹⁾

Consists primarily of our reported actuarial (gains) losses, the difference between actual and expected returns on plan assets, settlement gains (losses), and curtailment gains. The actuarial losses for 2016 included $1.8 related to the lump-sum payment actions that took place during the second quarter of the year. The actuarial losses for 2015 included a charge of $11.4 and a curtailment gain of $5.1 related to the freeze of all benefits for non-union participants of the U.S. Plan and the SIARP during the third quarter of the year.

Foreign Pension Plans



	Year ended December 31,
	2017			2016			2015
Service cost	$	—		$	—		$	1.3
Interest cost	4.9			5.6			7.7
Expected return on plan assets	(6.4		)	(6.6		)	(9.7		)
Recognized net actuarial losses ⁽¹⁾	3.1			8.2			3.8
Total net periodic pension benefit expense	1.6			7.2			3.1
Less: Net periodic pension expense of discontinued operations	—			(0.2		)	(2.2		)
Net periodic pension benefit expense of continuing operations	$	1.6		$	7.0		$	0.9

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⁽¹⁾	Consists of our reported actuarial losses and the difference between actual and expected returns on plan assets.

Assumptions — Actuarial assumptions used in accounting for our domestic and foreign pension plans were as follows:



	Year ended December 31,
	2017		2016		2015
Domestic Pension Plans
Weighted-average actuarial assumptions used in determining net periodic pension expense:
Discount rate	3.98	%	4.06	%	4.09	%
Rate of increase in compensation levels	3.75	%	3.75	%	3.75	%
Expected long-term rate of return on assets	4.00	%	5.00	%	5.75	%
Weighted-average actuarial assumptions used in determining year-end benefit obligations:
Discount rate	3.57	%	3.98	%	4.24	%
Rate of increase in compensation levels	3.75	%	3.75	%	3.75	%
Foreign Pension Plans
Weighted-average actuarial assumptions used in determining net periodic pension expense:
Discount rate	2.97	%	3.82	%	3.68	%
Rate of increase in compensation levels	N/A		N/A		4.00	%
Expected long-term rate of return on assets	4.09	%	4.57	%	5.81	%
Weighted-average actuarial assumptions used in determining year-end benefit obligations:
Discount rate	2.76	%	2.97	%	3.82	%
Rate of increase in compensation levels	N/A		N/A		4.00	%

We review the pension assumptions annually. Pension income or expense for the year is determined using assumptions as of the beginning of the year (except for the effects of recognizing changes in the fair value of plan assets and actuarial gains and losses in the fourth quarter of each year), while the funded status is determined using assumptions as of the end of the year. We determined assumptions and established them at the respective balance sheet date using the following principles: (i) the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is established based on forward looking long-term expectations of asset returns over the expected period to fund participant benefits based on the target investment mix of our plans; (ii) the discount rate is determined by matching the expected projected benefit obligation cash flows for each of the plans to a yield curve that is representative of long-term, high-quality (rated AA or higher) fixed income debt instruments as of the measurement date; and (iii) the rate of increase in compensation levels is established based on our expectations of current and foreseeable future increases in compensation. In addition, we consider advice from independent actuaries.

Postretirement Benefit Plans

Employer Contributions and Future Benefit Payments — Our postretirement medical plans are unfunded and have no plan assets, but are instead funded by us on a pay-as-you-go basis in the form of direct benefit payments or policy premium payments. In 2017, we made benefit payments of $9.0 to our postretirement benefit plans. Following is a summary, as of December 31, 2017, of the estimated future benefit payments for our postretirement plans in each of the next five fiscal years and in the aggregate for five fiscal years thereafter. The expected benefit payments are estimated based on the same assumptions used at December 31, 2017 to measure our obligations and include benefits attributable to estimated future employee service.



	Postretirement Payments
2018	$	8.9
2019	8.2
2020	7.5
2021	6.9
2022	6.3
Subsequent five years	23.9

Obligations and Funded Status — The following tables show the postretirement plans’ funded status and amounts recognized in our consolidated balance sheets:



	Postretirement Benefits
	2017			2016
Change in accumulated postretirement benefit obligation:
Accumulated postretirement benefit obligation — beginning of year	$	115.3		$	120.8
Interest cost	3.5			4.2
Actuarial (gains) losses	(5.4		)	0.6
Benefits paid	(9.0		)	(10.3		)
Plan amendment	(26.8		)	—
Accumulated postretirement benefit obligation — end of year	$	77.6		$	115.3
Funded status at year-end	$	(77.6	)	$	(115.3	)
Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets consist of:
Accrued expenses	$	(8.7	)	$	(11.7	)
Other long-term liabilities	(68.9		)	(103.6		)
Net amount recognized	$	(77.6	)	$	(115.3	)
Amount recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (pre-tax) consists of — net prior service credits	$	(31.0	)	$	(5.9	)

The net periodic postretirement benefit expense (income) included the following components:



	Year ended December 31,
	2017			2016			2015
Service cost	$	—		$	—		$	0.1
Interest cost	3.5			4.2			4.4
Amortization of unrecognized prior service credits	(1.7		)	(0.8		)	(0.8		)
Plan amendment	(2.6		)	—			(1.8		)
Recognized net actuarial (gains) losses	(2.8		)	0.6			(4.0		)
Net periodic postretirement benefit expense (income)	$	(3.6	)	$	4.0		$	(2.1	)

Actuarial assumptions used in accounting for our domestic postretirement plans were as follows:



	Year ended December 31,
	2017		2016		2015
Assumed health care cost trend rates:
Health care cost trend rate for next year	7.25	%	7.50	%	6.60	%
Rate to which the cost trend rate is assumed to decline (the ultimate trend rate)	5.00	%	5.00	%	5.00	%
Year that the rate reaches the ultimate trend rate	2027		2027		2024
Discount rate used in determining net periodic postretirement benefit expense	3.60	%	3.88	%	3.53	%
Discount rate used in determining year-end postretirement benefit obligation	3.34	%	3.69	%	3.88	%

The accumulated postretirement benefit obligation was determined using the terms and conditions of our various plans, together with relevant actuarial assumptions and health care cost trend rates. It is our policy to review the postretirement assumptions annually. The assumptions are determined by us and are established based on our prior experience and our expectations that future health care cost trend rates will decline. In addition, we consider advice from independent actuaries.

Assumed health care cost trend rates can have a significant effect on the amounts reported for the postretirement benefit plans. Including the effects of recognizing actuarial gains and losses into earnings, a one percentage point increase in the assumed health care cost trend rate would have increased our estimated 2017 postretirement expense by $1.4, and a one percentage point decrease in the assumed health care cost trend rate would have decreased our estimated 2017 postretirement expense by $1.6.

Defined Contribution Retirement Plans

We maintain a defined contribution retirement plan (the “DC Plan”) pursuant to Section 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Under the DC Plan, eligible U.S. employees may voluntarily contribute up to 50% of their compensation into the DC Plan and we match a portion of participating employees’ contributions. Our matching contributions are primarily made in newly issued shares of company common stock and are issued at the prevailing market price. The matching contributions vest with the employee immediately upon the date of the match and there are no restrictions on the resale of common stock held by employees.

Under the DC Plan, we contributed 0.334, 0.605 and 0.434 shares of our common stock to employee accounts in 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Compensation expense is recorded based on the market value of shares as the shares are contributed to employee accounts. We recorded $8.7 in 2017, $8.8 in 2016 and $10.2 in 2015 as compensation expense related to the matching contribution.

Certain collectively-bargained employees participate in the DC Plan with company contributions not being made in company common stock, although company common stock is offered as an investment option under these plans.

We also maintain a Supplemental Retirement Savings Plan (“SRSP”), which permits certain members of our senior management and executive groups to defer eligible compensation in excess of the amounts allowed under the DC Plan. We match a portion of participating employees’ deferrals to the extent allowable under the SRSP provisions. The matching contributions vest with the participant immediately. Our funding of the participants’ deferrals and our matching contributions are held in certain mutual funds (as allowed under the SRSP), as directed by the participant. The fair values of these assets, which totaled $21.2 and $19.1 at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, are based on quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level 1). In addition, the assets under the SRSP are available to the general creditors in the event of our bankruptcy and, thus, are maintained on our consolidated balance sheets within other non-current assets, with a corresponding amount in other long-term liabilities for our obligation to the participants. Lastly, these assets are accounted for as trading securities. During 2017, 2016 and 2015, we recorded compensation expense of $0.2, $0.7 and $0.7, respectively, relating to our matching contributions to the SRSP.