Employee Retirement Plans

We have a defined contribution plan in which all U.S. full-time employees are eligible to participate. The participants may contribute from 1% to 70% of their compensation, as defined in the plan. We match 100% of the first 3%, plus 50% of the next 3%, of each participant's base compensation with full vesting immediately. We may also make additional contributions to the plan as determined by the Board of Directors. The total expense for the defined contribution plan was $1.5 million, $1.6 million and $0.9 million for 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Certain employees of Fleet are covered by defined benefit pension plans. The Company’s policy is to contribute at least the minimum amount required under ERISA. The Company may elect to make additional contributions. Benefits are based on years of service and levels of compensation. On December 16, 2014, the decision was made to freeze the benefits under the Company's U.S. qualified defined benefit pension plan with an effective date of March 1, 2015.

Benefit Obligations and Plan Assets

The following table summarizes the changes in the U.S. pension plan obligations and plan assets and includes a statement of the plans' funded status as of March 31, 2019 and 2018:



	March 31,
(In thousands)	2019			2018
Change in benefit obligation:
Projected benefit obligation at beginning of period	$	61,882		$	61,714
Interest cost	2,380			2,529
Actuarial (gain) loss	(744		)	800
Benefits paid	(3,184		)	(3,161		)
Projected benefit obligations at end of year	$	60,334		$	61,882

Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of period	$	50,508		$	47,772
Actual return on plan assets	2,416			5,505
Employer contribution	1,375			392
Benefits paid	(3,184		)	(3,161		)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$	51,115		$	50,508

Funded status at end of year	$	(9,219	)	$	(11,374	)

Amounts recognized in the balance sheet at the end of the period consist of the following:



	March 31,
(In thousands)	2019		2018
Current liability	$	361	461
Long-term liability	8,858		10,913
Total	$	9,219	$	11,374

The primary components of Net Periodic Benefits consist of the following:



	Year Ended March 31,
(In thousands)	2019			2018			2017
Interest cost	$	2,380		$	2,529		$	456
Expected return on assets	(3,070		)	(2,901		)	(462		)
Net periodic benefit cost (income)	$	(690	)	$	(372	)	$	(6	)

The accumulated benefit obligation, which represents benefits earned to the measurement date, was $60.3 million at March 31, 2019, and $61.9 million at March 31, 2018 and we had a net periodic benefit (income) of less than $1.0 million for 2019, 2018 and 2017.

The pension benefit amounts stated above include one pension plan that is an unfunded plan. The projected benefit obligation and accumulated benefit obligation for this unfunded plan were $4.6 million as of March 31, 2019 and $5.9 million as of March 31, 2018.

The following table includes amounts that are expected to be contributed to the plans by the Company. It reflects benefit payments that are made from the plans' assets as well as those made directly from the Company's assets. The amounts in the table are actuarially determined and reflect the Company's best estimate given its current knowledge; actual amounts could be materially different.



(In thousands)	Pension Benefits
Employer contributions:
2020 (expectation) to participant benefits	$	1,361

Expected benefit payments year ending March 31,
2020	$	3,371
2021	3,472
2022	3,592
2023	3,678
2024	3,743
2025-2029	18,771

During 2019, we made a $1.0 million contribution to the qualified defined benefit plan. During 2018, we made no contribution to the qualified plan. During 2017, we funded $6.0 million to the plan.

The Company's primary investment objective for its qualified pension plan assets is to provide a source of retirement income for the plans' participants and beneficiaries. The asset allocation for the Company's funded retirement plan as of March 31, 2019 and 2018, and the target allocation by asset category are as follows:



	Percentage of Plan Assets
Asset Category	Target Allocation		March 31, 2019		March 31, 2018
Domestic large cap equities	18	%	18	%	21	%
Domestic small/mid cap equities	5		5		6
International equities	15		15		18
Fixed income and cash	62		62		55
Total	100	%	100	%	100	%

The plan assets are invested in a diversified portfolio consisting primarily of domestic fixed income and publicly traded equity securities held within group trust funds at March 31, 2019 and 2018. These assets are fair valued using NAV.

The following tables show the unrecognized actuarial loss (gain) included in accumulated other comprehensive income at March 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, as well as the prior service cost credit and actuarial loss expected to be reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) to retirement expense during 2020:



(In thousands)
Balances in accumulated other comprehensive loss as of March 31, 2017:
Unrecognized actuarial loss	$	399
Unrecognized prior service credit	—

Balances in accumulated other comprehensive loss as of March 31, 2018:
Unrecognized actuarial (gain)	$	(1,407	)
Unrecognized prior service credit	—

Balances in accumulated other comprehensive (income) as of March 31, 2019:
Unrecognized actuarial (gain)	$	(1,469	)
Unrecognized prior service credit	—

Amounts expected to be reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) during 2020:
Unrecognized actuarial (loss)	$	—
Unrecognized prior service credit	—

Assumptions used in determining the actuarial present value of the benefit obligation as of March 31, 2019 and 2018 were as follows:



	March 31,
	2019	2018
Key assumptions:
Discount rate	3.80% to 3.99%	3.93% to 4.07%
Expected return on plan assets, net of administrative fees	5.75%	6.25%
Rate of compensation increase	—	—

The determination of the expected long-term rate of return was derived from an optimized portfolio using an asset allocation software program. The risk and return assumptions, along with the correlations between the asset classes, were entered into the program. Based on these assumptions and historical experience, the portfolio is expected to achieve a long-term rate of return of 5.75%. The investment managers engaged to manage the portfolio are expected to outperform their expected benchmarks on a relative basis over a full market cycle.