News

US - Market volatility in the first six trading days of August has dealt a severe blow to S&P 1500 pension plans, with the aggregate funded status decreasing by $191bn, figures from Mercer show.

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs last night published the application for fixed protection for the new lifetime allowance on pension contributions.

The government has proposed changes to pension reform which will give smaller employers more time to prepare for auto-enrolment than previously planned.

GLOBAL - Markets have rallied overnight and this morning as the Federal Reserve announced it would hold interest rates at close to zero until 2013.

UK - Aggregate deficits of schemes monitored by the Pension Protection Fund worsened last month, increasing to £67.3bn ($109bn) from £8.3bn at the end of June.

GLOBAL - European markets have stabilised after a volatile morning along with overnight falls in Asia and the US.

The FTSE 100 dipped to a low of 4971.46 at 9:34 this morning, before beginning a period of steady growth through the morning - ending slightly up by 12:30.

Aggregate deficits of schemes monitored by the Pension Protection Fund worsened last month, increasing to £67.3bn from £8.3bn at the end of July.

The attention given to pensions deficits at blue chip companies is in danger of overshadowing the problems faced by smaller companies with defined benefit schemes, say consultants.

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