funding level

US - Pension plans of S&P1500 companies are shouldering deficits of a combined $506bn, the largest recorded deficit in their history, according to data by Mercer.

The £1.92bn Social Housing Pension Scheme has slashed its funding deficit by £44m since September 2008, valuation figures reveal.

Current Local Government Pension Scheme funding levels cover only three-quarters of its future liabilities, an Audit Commission report reveals.

The Macmillan Cancer Support pension scheme has appointed Mn Services as its fiduciary manager, to advise the trustees on their investment strategy.

Regulators should promote countercyclical funding policies, like providing better tax ceilings for over-funded schemes, in order to support the continuation of defined benefit plans, the OECD said.

NETHERLANDS - Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, the Netherlands' biggest pension fund, reported a return on investments of 4.6% in the first half of 2010.

GLOBAL - Pension fund assets are still below pre-crisis levels despite improvements, research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revealed.

NETHERLANDS - Dutch pension experts question whether the interbank swap yield curve is the best rate to discount liabilities against, Giovanni Legorano and Raquel Pichardo-Allison report.

The combined deficit of the top 100 UK firms' defined benefit schemes has improved by £17bn over the last year, Pension Capital Strategies says.

BT has reduced its pension scheme deficit by £1.4bn after it increased assets by £2.7bn last year.