the following tables present a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of the fair value measurements using significant unobservable inputs ( level 3 ) for 2015 and 2014 , respectively: .
[['', 'level 3'], ['balance as of january 1 2015', '$ 127'], ['actual return on assets', '12'], ['purchases issuances and settlements net', '-3 ( 3 )'], ['balance as of december 31 2015', '$ 136']]
purchases , issuances and settlements , net ................................................76 balance as of december 31 , 2014 ......................................................$ 127 the company 2019s other postretirement benefit plans are partially funded and the assets are held under various trusts .the investments and risk mitigation strategies for the plans are tailored specifically for each trust .in setting new strategic asset mixes , consideration is given to the likelihood that the selected asset allocation will effectively fund the projected plan liabilities and the risk tolerance of the company .the company periodically updates the long-term , strategic asset allocations and uses various analytics to determine the optimal asset allocation .considerations include plan liability characteristics , liquidity characteristics , funding requirements , expected rates of return and the distribution of returns .in june 2012 , the company implemented a de-risking strategy for the medical bargaining trust within the plan to minimize volatility .as part of the de-risking strategy , the company revised the asset allocations to increase the matching characteristics of assets relative to liabilities .the initial de-risking asset allocation for the plan was 60% ( 60 % ) return-generating assets and 40% ( 40 % ) liability-driven assets .the investment strategies and policies for the plan reflect a balance of liability driven and return-generating considerations .the objective of minimizing the volatility of assets relative to liabilities is addressed primarily through asset 2014liability matching , asset diversification and hedging .the fixed income target asset allocation matches the bond-like and long-dated nature of the postretirement liabilities .assets are broadly diversified within asset classes to achieve risk-adjusted returns that in total lower asset volatility relative to the liabilities .the company assesses the investment strategy regularly to ensure actual allocations are in line with target allocations as appropriate .strategies to address the goal of ensuring sufficient assets to pay benefits include target allocations to a broad array of asset classes and , within asset classes strategies are employed to provide adequate returns , diversification and liquidity .the assets of the company 2019s other trusts , within the other postretirement benefit plans , have been primarily invested in equities and fixed income funds .the assets under the various other postretirement benefit trusts are invested differently based on the assets and liabilities of each trust .the obligations of the other postretirement benefit plans are dominated by obligations for the medical bargaining trust .thirty-nine percent and four percent of the total postretirement plan benefit obligations are related to the medical non-bargaining and life insurance trusts , respectively .because expected benefit payments related to the benefit obligations are so far into the future , and the size of the medical non-bargaining and life insurance trusts 2019 obligations are large compared to each trusts 2019 assets , the investment strategy is to allocate a significant portion of the assets 2019 investment to equities , which the company believes will provide the highest long-term return and improve the funding ratio .the company engages third party investment managers for all invested assets .managers are not permitted to invest outside of the asset class ( e.g .fixed income , equity , alternatives ) or strategy for which they have been appointed .investment management agreements and recurring performance and attribution analysis are used as tools to ensure investment managers invest solely within the investment strategy they have been provided .futures and options may be used to adjust portfolio duration to align with a plan 2019s targeted investment policy. .

Question: what was the actual return on assets as a percentage of the 2015 ending balance?
Answer: 8.8%