While accounting measures don't affect funding requirements, they still "potentially have big implications on investment strategy," says Wittemann.
Still, ahead of those new rules coming to bear on U.S. companies, it's almost as hard to justify leaving money on the table as it is to swallow big losses, say others. "From a purely theoretical point of view, a pension plan has a very long time horizon," says Ehrhardt. "But you have to mix that with the fact you're dealing with a corporation" that faces short-term pressures on earnings and EPS, he adds.
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Gregg Johnson
Oct 5, 2010 2:18 PM ET
Risky investments
I'm always amused when investment professionals predict equity markets as being volatile in the futre. Equity markets … more
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