Company pensions £150bn in deficit under FRS 17
The deficit in company pension funds has risen to £150bn under controversial accounting standard FRS 17, a new study has found.
Link: FRS 17 ‘terrible’ for top companies
In a study of FTSE-350 company reports, actuarial group Mercer Human Resource Consulting found that the average funding lever of pension funds had fallen from 91% to 74% in the last year.
At the same time, median pension costs, as a proportion of profits, grew from 6% to 8%.
On an FRS 17 basis the study estimated FTSE 350 companies could find themselves with a deficit of as much as £90bn.
The deficit for the whole UK corporate sector could be up to £150bn, according to Mercer’s calculations.