A TOTAL of £54 billion was wiped off the value of defined-benefit pension schemes in June as stock markets fell, figures released yesterday revealed.
The collective surplus of the UK's 7,800 defined-benefit schemes, including final-salary pensions, dropped from £53.4bn at the end of May to just £8.3bn at the end of June,
According to the Pension Protection Fund, funding levels were also well d
own on a year earlier, when the schemes enjoyed a collective surplus of £130.4bn.
Stock markets were volatile during June, with the FTSE 100 index losing nearly 10 per cent of its value.
The slight rise in bond yields failed to offset the drop.
Yesterday, the PPF disclosed that the total shortfall faced by all pension schemes in the red soared to £63.1bn in June, from £45.7bn at the end of May.
And the funding black hole is now nearly three-times higher than in June last year when it stood at a deficit of £22.3bn.
The funding position of schemes in surplus also worsened, to leave them with assets that were collectively worth £71.4bn more than their liabilities, compared with £99bn more at the end of May.
Although the reductions are substantial, the findings are in line with figures from Aon Consulting released earlier this month.
It showed that three-quarters of the UK's 200 largest defined-benefit pension schemes were now in deficit after a third plunged into the red during June alone.
In its research, the group said the schemes funding positions deteriorated from a collective £6bn surplus at the end of May to a shortfall of £30bn during June.
The full article contains 282 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
