Defined Benefit

The Treasury should use the proceeds from winding up quantitative easing to prop up failing pension schemes and support the Pension Protection Fund, the National Association of Pension Funds says.

The Trustee of the Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan and the Pension Protection Fund have been left empty-handed after an international mediation failed to settle the dispute over the assets of collapsed telecoms giant Nortel Networks Corporation.

Trustees hoping to secure a buyout must develop a contingency plan as the bulk annuities market could struggle to meet growing demand says a consultant.

The closure of defined benefit schemes hit its fastest rate ever during 2012, with the proportion of open schemes falling from 19% in 2011 to 13% by the end of last year, National Association of Pension Funds figures show.

Capita is recommending that all employers with dependents pensions should abandon them if possible.

The Department for Work and Pensions has launched a consultation on creating an objective for the Pensions Regulator to consider the long-term affordability of deficit recovery plans for defined benefit schemes' sponsors.

HMV's administrator has submitted section 120 forms to the Pension Protection Fund despite the purchase of its debt by Hilco.

The Pensions Infrastructure Platform will not open to smaller pension schemes until mid-2013, after delays pushed back the fund's launch date.

The government is considering relaxing a black-and-white definition of "money purchase" to avoid shifting the goalposts on defined contribution schemes with guarantees, according to experts.

Unilever's scheme deficit rose by €500m in 2012 due to falling discount rates and a 33% fall in the value of its assets.