Easing corporate pension promises could save £350bn, study finds – Financial Times

Pension costs facing thousands of UK employers could be cut by up to £350bn if company schemes were given more freedom to water down pension promises, according to new analysis.

The affordability of traditional defined benefit company pension schemes has risen up the political agenda, as persistent low interest rates have led to pension deficits blowing out to a record £1tn.

But new analysis by Hymans Robertson, the consultants, said deficits could be reduced by hundreds of billions of pounds if schemes could turn off, or reduce, the annual inflation rises which protect pensioner spending power.

Rules at present prevent companies from breaking their promises, with about 75 per cent of the UKs 6,000 private sector DB pension schemes…

Read the full article at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8a560444-711e-11e6-a0c9-1365ce54b926.html