Pensions - Articles - Pension scheme funding recovers in April but stays volatille

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

The Broadstone Sirius Index has published its April tracking for a ‘growth focused’ and a more conservative ‘matching focused’ investment strategy against a low dependency basis. Both schemes started 90.0% funded at the start of 2026.

Reporting its update for April 2026, the Broadstone Sirius Index found that both schemes reversed the falls experienced in March to just about reach or better the start of year position.

The funding level of the ‘matching focused’ scheme increased by 1.1 percentage points from 88.6% at the end of March to 89.7% at the end of April.

The funding level of the ‘growth focused’ scheme improved more, rising by 2.7 percentage points and benefiting from positive performance in growth assets and higher interest rates, due to not being fully hedged. The funding level increased from 89.0% at the end of March to 91.7% at the end of April, exceeding the position at the start of the year and the funding level of the ‘matching focused’ scheme.

Andrew Knight-Stephens, Investment Director at Broadstone, commented: “Pension schemes with lower levels of interest rate hedging generally saw an improvement in funding levels over April, as higher gilt yields reduced the value of scheme liabilities.

“However, whilst retaining interest rate exposure was rewarded over April, such a position continues to represent a source of funding level risk. Growth assets, particularly equities, delivered positive returns over April, with most major equity markets advancing despite continued volatility and an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop.”