Aggregate DB surplus rises to £485bn, says PPF

The aggregate surplus of DB pension schemes increased to £485.1bn at the end of October, according to the latest Pension Protection Fund (PPF) 7800 Index. That’s up slightly from a surplus of £477bn at the end of September. The funding ratio climbed from 148.4% in September to 151% in October. Total assets were £1,437bn and and total liabilities were £982.8bn. There were 450 schemes in deficit and 4,600 schemes in surplus. The deficit of the schemes in deficit at the end of October was £3.7bn, slightly higher than the £3.6bn at the end of September. Shalin Bhagwan, PPF chief actuary said: “Over the course of October we’ve seen both liability and asset values fall. With equities largely unchanged over the month, the main driver behind these movements was the increase in gilt yields, with a combination of global (US election) and domestic (UK Budget) forces sending 10-year and 30-year gilt yields to one-year highs. He said that as the drop in liabilities outstripped the fall in asset values, the estimated funding ratio of schemes in the DB universe increased by 2.6%, to 151%. In terms of the aggregate surplus of schemes, the impact of the movements was estimated to have led to a £9.1bn increase over the month to £485.1bn. He added: “The deficit of the schemes in deficit rose slightly to £3.7bn." Jaime Norman, senior actuarial director at consultancy Broadstone, said: “Defined benefit pension scheme funding saw a notable improvement in October in a month which saw gilt yields increase and growth assets decline. “The impact will be a mixed bag for pension schemes but those with the least amount of hedging are likely to have benefitted the most.” He pointed out that volatility has returned to markets over the past couple of weeks surrounding the UK Budget from the Chancellor and the convincing victory for Donald Trump in the US election. He said: “Growth assets have rallied and while we are some distance from the market turbulence experienced in 2022, managing investment risk remains a challenge.” Every month the Pension Protection Fund publishes the PPF 7800 index giving the latest estimated funding position for all eligible defined benefit schemes - on a section 179 basis. The index is an official statistic produced in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority Code.

Aggregate DB surplus rises to £485bn, says PPF

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