PwC’s Skyval Index, based on the Skyval platform used by pension funds, provides an aggregate health check of the UK’s c.5,800 corporate DB pension funds. The current Skyval Index figures, based on the 'gilts plus' method widely used by scheme actuaries, are:
Assets Liability target Deficit
£1,560bn £1,760bn £200bn
Steven Dicker, PwC’s chief actuary, said: “The funding position has improved considerably over recent months, meaning the deficit has fallen from £450bn in November 2017 to £200bn now.
“This is due to three key factors: Adoption of the latest UK pension fund dataset (as published in the 2017 PPF Purple Book, which shows a reducing universe of schemes); increases in long-term real interest rates; and allowance for revised mortality projections based on our 2017 survey of assumptions adopted by pension scheme trustees, which reflect the continued slowdown in the rate of increase in life expectancy.
“However, the funding level is likely to remain volatile throughout 2018 as Brexit negotiations and economic uncertainty continue.”
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