Defined Benefit

With a total market value of over £2trn, defined benefit (DB) pensions are an enormous financial resource, says Baroness Ros Altmann. But quantitative easing (QE) has caused significant damage to pension funding.

Every month, several firms issue trackers of the aggregate defined benefit (DB) scheme funding position. See here for the November 2020 estimates on the various measures…

Pensions schemes with sponsors facing severe economic difficulties due to Covid-19 must prepare for the lifting of temporary protections from corporate insolvency at the end of the year, Aon says.

Lady Tina Green has agreed to pay a £50m deficit recovery contribution (DRC) to Arcadia’s pension schemes earlier than scheduled.

Scheme funding in the defined benefit (DB) universe has worsened, but the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) remains confident it can tackle the challenges ahead, it says as it launches its 2020 Purple Book.

Debenhams’ pension schemes are continuing in Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment after administrators failed to rescue the company from collapse.

The collapse of Sir Philip Green’s retail giant Arcadia must be met with clear solutions and support for its pension scheme, which looks likely to enter Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment, Stephen Timms has said.

Nearly every trustee is confident of the next stage in their scheme’s strategy, despite almost an equal number being forced to consider replacing plans within the prior 12 months, according to research by Barnett Waddingham.

Companies could be overstating their pension liabilities by up to £60bn due to their life expectancy assumptions, according to XPS Pensions Group.

Defined benefit (DB) schemes that provide GMPs must revisit and, where necessary, top-up historic cash equivalent transfer values (CETVs) that have been calculated on an unequal basis, a landmark court judgment said last week.