Defined Benefit
Airways Pension Scheme defers appeal decision to September
Trustees of the Airways Pension Scheme (APS) will not make a firm decision on whether to appeal the Court of Appeal's judgment on discretionary increase payments until September.
LDI activity rebounds in Q2 after subdued Q1; LIBOR to SONIA switching driving activity
The level of interest rate hedging increased to £29.5bn of liabilities in the second quarter as pension funds continued to de-risk, according to BMO Global Asset Management's research.
PPF consults on adopting more 'optimistic' assumptions
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is consulting on changes to the actuarial assumptions it uses in valuations in a bid to better reflect the bulk annuity market, with schemes set to move into surplus on aggregate.
PPF index: DB deficit falls 27% to £62.8bn
Private sector defined benefit (DB) schemes were 96.3% funded on a Pension Protection Fund (PPF) compensation basis at the end of July, according to the lifeboat fund's monthly index.
Santander's pension surplus increases fourfold over first half of 2018
The overall surplus of Santander's defined benefit (DB) pension scheme has risen by £595m to almost £800m since the end of 2017.
Continued stability for pension transfer values throughout July
Pension transfer values remained stable throughout July, with the index finishing the month where it started, according to XPS Pension Group's transfer value index (TVI).
House of Fraser scheme expected to enter PPF assessment but could buy out benefits with insurer
House of Fraser's defined benefit (DB) pension scheme is expected to enter Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment, but may be able to buy out benefits with an insurer.
Exclusive: Regulator pressing DB schemes to match dividends with deficit contributions
Defined benefit (DB) pension funds are increasingly under pressure to put in place dividend-sharing mechanisms as the regulator seeks to address the disparity with deficit contributions.
FTSE 350 DB deficits fall to 17% of pre-tax profits
Pension deficits at the UK's 350 largest listed companies fell by £27bn over the 18 months to June on an accounting basis, according to Barnett Waddingham.
Manchester University plans to close final salary scheme for support staff
The University of Manchester is consulting on closing its non-academic staff final salary fund to future accrual and enrolling new recruits into a defined contribution (DC) scheme.
DB transfer members risk running out of money seven years earlier
An individual transferring a £230,000 defined benefit (DB) pension could lose up to seven years of retirement income if they draw a fixed sum of £10,000 a year, according to XPS Pensions Group research.
PPF chief: Members and levy-payers could share our surplus
Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levy-payers and claimants could be in line to benefit from a surplus in the lifeboat fund if it hits its long-term self-sufficiency target.
Brunel selects MSCI benchmarks for £10bn equity allocation
Brunel Pension Partnership has selected MSCI to provide benchmark data for £10bn of its equity allocation.
Exclusive: How the Dutch disclosure regime reduced pension costs by a third
Schemes in the Netherlands saw investment costs fall by more than a third in just one year under its compulsory cost reporting framework, according to research. Stephanie Baxter explores the data and speaks to a Dutch scheme CIO
How can we make DB transfers safer?
Margaret Snowdon says there are three ways to protect members from making bad decisions
Base rate rise 'serves as important reminder' to DB trustees over asset allocation
Yesterday's increase in the Bank of England's (BoE) base rate will not have an immediate significant impact on defined benefit (DB) scheme funding but schemes should reconsider their investment allocation, industry commentators have said.
Mercer: FTSE 350 pension deficit edges up by £3bn in July
The combined pension deficit of FTSE 350 companies grew by £3bn to £32bn over July, according to Mercer's monthly funding tracker.
EXCLUSIVE: BA members warn trustees to appeal judgment to avoid 'breaching trust'
Members of the Airways Pension Scheme (APS) have written to trustees demanding a meeting over why they have not yet decided whether to appeal the recent Court of Appeal judgment, PP can reveal.
FTSE 100 schemes increase bond allocation to de-risk
Two-thirds of FTSE 100 DB schemes invest more than 50% of assets in bonds to tackle investment mismatching, according to JLT research. Victoria Ticha takes a closer look
Lloyds' pension surplus rises by £1bn in six months
The defined benefit (DB) pension schemes of Lloyds Banking Group saw their combined accounting surplus grow by £954m over the first six months of 2018.
FTSE 100 schemes post accounting surplus for first time in nearly a decade
Defined benefit (DB) schemes at the UK's 100 largest listed companies had a £3bn accounting surplus at the end of July, according to JLT Employee Benefits.
TPR wrote 12 letters to trustees over DB transfers in 2018
Since January, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has sent letters on 12 occasions to trustees about defined benefit (DB) transfer activity.
Centrica's pension deficit falls by £857m in H1
Centrica has announced the funding hole across its pension schemes fell by 97% to £29m at the end of June 2018.
Coats edges into pension surplus as schemes consolidated
Coats Group has recorded a narrow defined benefit (DB) surplus of $1m (£0.8m) across its three UK schemes.
