Company pension funds showed an improvement in the state of their finances during December, a new report has revealed.
According to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), the 6,560 final salary pension schemes currently operating in the private sector have transformed a deficit of £1 billion into a surplus of £22 billion.
The increase was the result of a 3.4 per cent rise recorded in the value of assets in the last month of 2010.
The cost of paying for pensions climbed too but only by 1 per cent.
The PPF said: “During the month of December there was a 3.4 per cent increase in assets mainly due to rising UK and global equities. However, liabilities also increased by 1 per cent due to the combination of falling index-linked gilt yields and the time value of liabilities.”
