12. EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

Employee Retirement Savings Plans

The Company has various qualified employee retirement savings plans. Participants can contribute certain amounts to the plans and the Company matches a certain portion of employee contributions. The Company contributed approximately $4.1 million, $4.5 million and $4.6 million to the plans for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Deferred Compensation Plan

The Company has a deferred compensation plan, which meets the requirements for deferred compensation under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code. The plan provides that selected employees are eligible to defer up to 80% of their salaries and up to 100% of their bonuses. The Company may also make employer contributions to participant accounts in certain circumstances. The benefits under this plan are unsecured. Participants are generally eligible to receive payment of their vested benefit at the end of their elected deferral period or after termination of their employment for any reason or at a later date to comply with the restrictions of Section 409A. Discretionary Company contributions and the related earnings are subject to a vesting schedule dependent upon years of service to the Company and, also, vest completely upon the participant's disability or death while employed by the Company or immediately prior to a change of control. The Company made contributions of $0.6 million, $0.7 million and $0.6 million during fiscal year 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively. As of June 30, 2016, the Company held assets of $21.3 million and liabilities of $16.0 million related to this plan. Assets related to this plan are included in other assets and liabilities related to this plan are included in other long-term liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets. The plan liabilities include accrued employer contributions not yet funded to the plan.

Employee Pension Plans

The Company sponsors a number of qualified and nonqualified pension plans for its employees at certain locations. In accordance with accounting standards for employee pension and postretirement benefits, the Company fully recognizes the overfunded or underfunded status of each of its defined benefit plans as an asset or liability in the consolidated balance sheets. The asset or liability equals the difference between the fair value of the plans' assets and their benefit obligations. The liabilities associated with underfunded plans are classified as noncurrent, except to the extent the fair value of the plans' assets is less than the plans' estimated benefit payments over the next 12 months. The Company measures its pension and postretirement benefit plans' assets and benefit obligations as of June 30.

The following provides a reconciliation of the changes in the plans' benefit obligations and fair value of assets for fiscal years 2015 and 2016, and a statement of the funded status as of June 30, 2015 and 2016 (in thousands):

	2015			2016
Change in Benefit Obligation
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	13,690		$	13,896
Translation adjustment		(941	)		(933	)
Service costs		34			—
Interest costs		671			582
Curtailment		—			(1,187	)
Actuarial (gain) loss		585			1,226
Benefits paid		(143	)		(279	)

Benefit obligation at end of year		13,896			13,305

Change in Plan Assets
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year		7,711			7,090
Translation adjustment		(849	)		(923	)
Actual return on plan assets		366			488
Company contributions		77			55
Benefits paid		(215	)		(1,500	)

Fair value of plan assets at end of year		7,090			5,210

Funded status		(6,806	)		(8,095	)
Unrecognized net actuarial loss		—			—

Net amount recognized	$	(6,806	)	$	(8,095	)


Amount recognized in consolidated balance sheets consists of:
Investments	$	782		$	648
Accrued pension liability		(6,829	)		(8,581	)
Accumulated other comprehensive income		2,488			2,792

The following table provides the net periodic benefit costs for each of the fiscal years ended June 30, (in thousands):

	2014			2015			2016
Net Periodic Benefit Costs
Service costs	$	58		$	34		$	—
Interest costs		697			671			582
Expected return on plan assets		(393	)		(418	)		(303	)
Amortization of prior service costs		615			615			420
Recognized actuarial loss		144			204			43

Net periodic benefit cost	$	1,121		$	1,106		$	742

Plan Assumptions

	2015			2016
Weighted average assumptions at year-end:
Discount rate		4.5	%		3.5	%
Expected return on plan assets		5.1	%		4.8	%
Rate of compensation increase		2.0	%		2.9	%

The long term return on assets has been derived from the weighted average of assumed returns on each of the major asset categories. The weighted average is based on the actual proportion of each major asset class held, rather than a benchmark portfolio of assets. The expected returns for each major asset class have been derived from a combination of both historical market returns and current market data as well as the views of a range of investment managers.

Plan Assets and Investment Policy

	Fiscal year ended June 30, 2015						Fiscal year ended June 30, 2016
	Proportion of Fair Value			Expected Rate of Return			Proportion of Fair Value			Expected Rate of Return
Equity securities		56	%		7	%		58	%		7	%
Debt securities		40	%		2	%		32	%		2	%
Other		4	%		4	%		10	%		2	%

Combined		100	%		5.1	%		100	%		4.8	%

The defined benefit plans' assets are invested in a range of pooled investment funds that provide access to a diverse range of asset classes. The investment objective is to maximize the investment return over the long term without exposing the fund to an unnecessary level of risk. Within this objective, it is recognized that benefits will be secured by the purchase of annuities at the time of employee retirement.

The benchmark is to hold assets in both equity and debt securities. The proportion in each investment class is not mandated and is allowed to fluctuate with market movements. The equity holdings are maintained in balanced funds under the control of investment managers.

Day-to-day equities selection decisions are delegated to investment managers, although these are monitored against performance and risk targets. Due to the nature of the pooled funds, there are no significant holdings in any single company (greater than 5% of the total assets). The investment strategy is reviewed on a regular basis, based on the results of third-party liability studies.

Projected Benefit Payments

The following table reflects estimated benefits payments, based upon the same assumptions used to measure the benefit obligation and net pension cost, as of June 30, 2016 (in thousands):

	Pension Benefits
July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017	$	139
July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018		171
July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019		676
July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020		1,185
July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021		1,195
July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2026		6,249

Company Contribution

As of June 30, 2016, the Company's weighted average contribution rate is under 1% of pensionable salaries. If Company contributions continue at the current rate, the estimated total Company contributions for fiscal 2017 will be approximately $0.1 million.