defined benefit pension schemes

For the first time in five years no FTSE 350 defined benefit (DB) pension scheme has a deficit that exceeds its market cap, according to an annual report from Hymans Robertson.

Housing organisation Curo is to boost its affordable housing building with a £75m funding deal with M&G Investments, as fund manager activity increases in the asset class.

The Pension Protection Fund has announced that the levy estimate will be £630m with fewer schemes having their levies capped.

FTSE350 defined benefit deficits have risen 11% over November but funding ratios remains stagnant at 90%, a Mercer survey shows.

Removal firm Pickfords has shifted its defined benefit scheme off its balance sheet via a management buyout following a prepack administration which took place at the end of November.

The Royal Opera House has confirmed it is consulting with scheme members on closing its final salary scheme next year.

Total UK pension obligations hit £7.1trn at the end of 2010 - including unfunded defined benefit public sector obligations of £900m, national statistics show.

Tube workers have called a 72- hour strike over inclusion in Transport for London's pension fund and travel benefits scheme.

GLOBAL -The Greek pension system was ranked the worst in a new study because of its acute sovereign debt and overly generous promises, while Australia was found to have the most sustainable system.

New rules could see the burden of risk swing from employer to employee. Chris Panteli discovers that while this might be the norm elsewhere in the world today, the Dutch are not so keen to follow suit