From The BBC:
The combined deficit of the UK’s private sector final salary pension schemes shrank in July, figures show.The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) said the deficit fell from £200bn at the end of June to £158bn at the end if July. The figures from the PPF cover 7,400 pension schemes, 85% of which were showing a deficit. It said the improvement was mainly due to a sharp rise in share values during July, which had driven up the value of the pension schemes’ assets. “During the month of July there was a 3.8% increase in assets due to rises in both UK and global equities,” said the PPF. Ballooning deficits have been one reason behind the revived trend this year for employers to close their final salary pension schemes to existing members, not just new joiners. Among firms that have done this, or have threatened to do so, have been Barclays, Fujitsu, Morrisons, Dairy Crest and IBM. New retirement rulesSeparately, a survey has suggested that three-quarters of workers are unaware that the…
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