Deficits

UK - The combined deficit of the top 100 UK firms' defined benefit schemes has shrunk by £8bn ($12.6bn) over the last year, Pension Capital Strategies says.

Global technology firm Smiths has agreed a 10-year funding plan for its two principal UK defined benefit pension schemes.

EUROPE - Nearly half of all European pension funds are imprecisely modelling their liability hedging portfolios, a new survey by EDHEC-Risk Institute finds.

IRELAND - Ireland's defined-benefit pension schemes risk closure because they cannot meet the "draconian" minimum funding standard set by the Pensions Board, employers claim.

Building materials supplier Wolseley will make additional cash contributions of £25m per year to tackle its £432m pension deficit.

Iberia will merge with British Airways after the Spanish airline's board of directors gave the green light to its 16-year deficit recovery plan.

GLOBAL - Defined benefit (DB) liabilities across the world are likely to have increased to record levels in 2010, research by Mercer warns.

Trustees have been handed more than £4bn from scheme sponsors through asset-backed funding structures, research from KPMG reveals.

UK - The UK's biggest firms have pumped £13bn into their defined benefit pension schemes in the last 12 months, research shows.

The UK's biggest firms have pumped £13bn into their defined benefit pension schemes in the last 12 months, research shows.