Record pension surpluses 'hide uncertain future'

Although many final-salary pension schemes are currently in surplus, they could be threatened by new proposals from the Accounting Standards Board, reports Online Recruitment.

The issue has been raised by pension, benefits and HR firm Aon Consulting, which explains that the new plans could mean recalculations by the Pensions Regulator, which would reduce the surplus on many schemes.

Senior consultant and actuary at Aon Consulting Marcus Hurd commented: "These proposals add more pressure on companies to close their final salary schemes to members or find ways to terminate their liabilities."

Meanwhile, the Policy Exchange has found that less than one in four workers now have a private pension, which could mean the pensions crisis is "worse than feared".