Pensions - Articles - Funding holds steady ahead of November Budget

 The Broadstone Sirius Index – a monitor of how various pension scheme strategies are performing on their journeys to self-sufficiency – posts its latest update.

 The Broadstone Sirius Index reports its update for October 2025 with contrasting funding movements between the fully hedged and 50% hedged Defined Benefit (DB) pension scheme due to a fall in gilt yields over the month.

 The funding level of the fully hedged scheme rose from 71.6% at the end of August to 72.5% at the end of September, with the funding level improving and deficit reducing month on month from the end of April.

 For the first time in 6 months the 50% hedged scheme didn’t make progress. The funding level decreased from 109.7% at the end of September to 109.1% at the end of October as growth asset returns did not match the liability increase coming from falling gilt yields.

 Christopher Rice, Head of Trustee Services at Broadstone, commented: "It is encouraging that with speculation rife on the impact of the Budget on inflation, interest rates and the economy more generally, DB scheme funding has held up. The benefits of a well hedged scheme shone through in October as the fully hedged scheme’s funding performed better than the 50% hedged scheme. This serves as a reminder to trustees and sponsors to ensure they understand the risks they are exposed to and look to remove risk where funding allows, especially as they look ahead to what could be a volatile month for markets in November.”