22 May 2007
Aon Consulting says that at 3:25pm on Friday 18 May 2007, there
was an aggregate UK pension accounting surplus for the first time
since FRS17 was introduced in June 2001.
Aon says that there has been a remarkable degree of volatility
in the aggregate deficit over the last three months, commencing
with the largest single day increase in pension deficits of
£11bn after market turmoil in China on 27 February 2007. At
its recent peak, the aggregate deficit stood as high as £50bn
in March 2007.
According to research by Aon published on 18 May 2007, the
aggregate deficit for the 200 largest pension funds has cleared
whilst equivalent figures for FTSE100 companies also show an
improvement to a surplus of £1bn. The improvements in the
aggregate position for UK pension schemes has arisen primarily from
increases in bond yields, the benchmark measure of pension scheme
deficits for accounting purposes, although strong investment
performance has also served to improve the position.
