Pension deficit improves on equity recovery

A new report reveals the deficit totalled £33.7bn in March 2006, down from a peak of £120bn in 2003

During the past 10 years or more, UK corporations of all sizes have encountered growing difficulties in meeting the liabilities of their funded occupational pension schemes. These problems run across the entire economy, both in manufacturing and the service and financial sectors. Many profitable insurers and banks including Aviva, Legal & General, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Standard Life - fall into this category.