Defined Benefit

The Royal Mail has seen its scheme surplus soar to more than £1.8bn after trustees agreed to break the link between salaries and pensionable pay.

Hymans Robertson and Cass Business School have launched a research project to develop a method of assessing the basis risk in longevity transactions.

Schemes undergoing triennial valuations in 2013 will see the projected time to fully repay deficits increase to 11 years, research from PwC shows.

Recent developments at Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) demonstrate the "two futures" of DB provision that could be solved with defined ambition (DA) proposals, pensions minister Steve Webb says.

Greencore has set up an asset-backed contribution structure (ABC) to fund a £40m deficit in one of its defined benefit (DB) schemes.

Kcom has spent £895,000 putting in place an asset-backed contribution structure (ABC) that will deliver £1.1m a year to its defined benefit scheme for the next 15 years.

Asset-backed contribution structures (ABCs) are increasingly being used to fund smaller deficits, according to research from Deloitte.

Mercer has launched an app that gives clients access to daily information about the funding status of their schemes.

Tough action on Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) costs could save taxpayers £1bn and avoid a "death spiral" for the scheme, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) says.

QinetiQ has closed its defined benefit (DB) scheme to future accrual, cutting its deficit by half to £20m.