05 August 2010
According to Lane Clark and Peacock's annual Accounting for
Pensions report, FTSE 100 companies paid an unprecedented
£17.5 billion into their defined benefit pension schemes in
2009 which is an increase of more than 50 per cent than in
2008.
This helped reduce the aggregate pensions deficit to £51
billion, which is nearly half the record deficit of £96
billion in 2008. Strong investment returns were also another factor
in reducing the deficit.
Companies are putting more money into their defined benefit
pension scheme because the trustees are required to submit a
recovery plan to the Pensions Regulator, if they are in deficit,
setting out how the deficit is going to be eliminated. The
recovery plan will involve the company paying extra contributions
on top of the regular cost of the scheme.
