TPR

Taha Lokhandwala looks at the options for smoothing discount rates

When talking about what caused the death of defined benefit pensions, the usual suspects always pop up. Soaring liabilities are generally considered to have dealt the fatal blow, but didn't act alone; at the very least, red tape acted as look out.

The Pensions Regulator chairman Michael O'Higgins has urged trustees to consider equity and infrastructure investment in a bid to avoid "reckless prudence" in investment strategies.

Quantitative easing has cost defined benefit schemes £90bn but smoothing may be "too little, too late", the National Association of Pension Funds warns.

Plans to give The Pensions Regulator a statutory responsibility to consider the affordability of recovery plans for sponsoring employers will make little difference, says the watchdog's chairman.

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.

The Pensions Regulator has given its Determinations Panel an explicit power to request extra evidence from schemes when considering cases.

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

The government will publish a call for evidence on two major changes to the way the way defined benefit deficits recovery plans are regulated tomorrow (Friday 25 January).

Rachel Dalton examines the forces closing in on money purchase.