All employees in the United States are eligible to participate in the Company’s Employee Savings and Investment Plan (“401(k) Plan”), a tax-qualified defined contribution retirement savings plan. The Company matches 50% of each 1% contributed by the employee up to a maximum of 6% of pay (totaling a company maximum match of 3%), subject to the contribution limits imposed by the Internal Revenue Code. Employees vest in the Company match after three years of service. In fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017, the Company contributed $1.1 million, $1.1 million and $1.0 million, respectively, in cash to the 401(k) Plan.

The Company sponsors defined contribution benefit plans for its employees located in Switzerland (prior to amendment effective December 31, 2018 – see below for discussion) Asia and the United Kingdom. Company contributions and expenses of administering the plans were $0.6 million, $2.0 million and $2.1 million in fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Contributions in fiscal 2018 and 2017 included employees located in Switzerland.

The Company maintains a defined contribution Deferred Compensation Plan (also known as a supplemental employee retirement plan or SERP). The SERP provides eligible executives with supplemental retirement benefits in addition to amounts received under the Company’s other retirement plans. The Company makes a matching contribution, up to either 5% or 10% of the executive’s salary, which vests in equal annual installments over five years. Twenty percent of the Company’s matching contribution is in the form of rights to the Company’s common stock. During fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017, the Company recorded expenses related to the SERP of $0.7 million, $0.6 million and $0.9 million (which included $0.3 million related to the retirement of the Company’s former Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer).

The Company sponsors a plan in Switzerland which was amended to a defined benefit plan effective December 31, 2018. The plan covers certain international employees and is based on years of service and compensation on a career-average pay basis.

The components of the net periodic pension costs for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2019 are as follows:

(Amounts in thousands)	2019
Service cost	$	93
Interest cost		25
Expected return on assets		(25	)
Amortization of prior service costs		6
Net Periodic Pension Cost	$	99

The other components of the net periodic pension costs, including the interest cost, expected return on assets and the amortization of the prior service cost, are all included in selling, general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statement of operations.

The estimated prior service cost that will be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive income into net periodic pension cost in the fiscal year ended January 31, 2020 is $0.1 million.

A reconciliation of the change in benefit obligation, the change in plan assets and the net amount recognized in the consolidated balance sheets shown below (based on a January 31 measurement date):

(Amounts in thousands)	2019
Change in benefit obligation:
Pension benefit obligation at 12/31/2018	$	34,088
Service cost		93
Interest cost		25
Benefit and expense payments		(81	)
Employee contributions		70
Foreign currency exchange rate impact		(441	)
Pension benefit obligation at end of year		33,754
Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at 12/31/2018	$	33,538
Company contributions		105
Benefit and expense payments		(81	)
Actual return on plan assets		25
Employee contributions		70
Foreign currency exchange rate impact		(434	)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year		33,223
Funded status - consolidated	$	(531	)
Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets consist of:
Other long-term liabilities	$	531
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive (loss):
Prior service cost		537
Tax effect		(117	)
Net amount recognized, after tax	$	420
Accumulated benefit obligation	$	30,083

It is the objective of the plan sponsor to maintain an adequate level of diversification to balance market risk, to prudently invest to preserve capital and to provide sufficient liquidity while maximizing earnings for near-term payments of benefits accrued under the plans and to pay plan administrative expenses. The assumption used for the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is based on the long-term expected returns for the investment mix of assets currently in the portfolio. Historical return trends for the various asset classes in the class portfolio are combined with current and anticipated future market conditions to estimate the rate of return for each class. These rates are then adjusted for anticipated future inflation to determine estimated nominal rates of return for each class.

The assets are classified as a Level 3 asset within the fair value hierarchy and consist of an investment in pooled assets and include separate employee accounts that are invested in equity securities, debt securities and real estate. The values of the separate accounts invested are based on values provided by the administrator of the funds that cannot be readily derived from or corroborated by observable market data.

The weighted‑average assumptions that were used to determine the Company’s benefit obligations as of the measurement date (January 31) and that were used to determine the Company’s net periodic benefit cost were as follows:

The assumptions used at the amendment date were materially consistent with those used at the measurement date.

The discount rates used are based on high quality AAA- and AA-rated corporate bonds with durations corresponding to the expected durations of the benefit obligations and service time.

The overall expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is a weighted-average expectation based on the targeted portfolio composition. Historical experience and current benchmarks are considered to arrive at expected long-term rates of return in each asset category.

The Company expects the following benefit payments to be paid out for the fiscal years indicated. The expected benefit payments are based on the same assumptions used to measure the Company’s benefit obligation at January 31, 2019 and include estimated future employee service. The Company does not expect any plan assets to be returned to it during the fiscal year ending January 31, 2020. Payments from the pension plan are made from the plan assets.

Fiscal Year ending January 31,	(in thousands)
2020	$	696
2021		709
2022		717
2023		727
2024		740
2025-2030		3,783

During fiscal 2020, the Company expects to contribute $1.3 million to its Swiss defined benefit plan.