"The improvement in funded status over the past 10 months is remarkable. You can certainly find right now investments that are touting 70% returns over the past 12 months because the markets hit bottom at the beginning of those periods.... Now, coupled with the rise in interest rates, it is very possible that plan sponsors are seeing their highest funded status since before The Great Recession. For plans that have been frozen for some time waiting for a better day, that day may finally be here."