75% of defined benefit pensions in deficit

THREE out of four defined benefit pension schemes are in deficit and those paying into them risk receiving less than they expected because of failures to reduce the exposure of such funds to equity markets.

The warning was issued as the Pensions Board’s chief executive, Brendan Kennedy, criticised the continued inaction of pensions trustees.

Revealing a worrying fall in numbers paying into pension schemes, Mr Kennedy also said an over-reliance on equity markets increased the risk of pension funds suffering additional losses from declining values of stocks and shares.