Consequently, via rebalancing, pension funds can help to mitigate excessive asset price movements. Pension funds do not rely primarily on borrowing to fund their investments, and are not vulnerable to excessive leverage or significant liquidity and maturity mismatches, which  funding status of pension funds, greatly increasing the burden on plan sponsors in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
The Mercer Pension Health Index assumes contributions equal to the current service cost plus solvency deficit payments, and no plan improvements http://m.mercer.ca/press-releases/1593805?detail=D. Note that, in contrast, the risk for defined contribution plans was borne by the beneficiaries, although the impact was equally serious.