DB mortality assumption plans the 'nail in the coffin'

OPT, a pension scheme buyout trust launched in September last year, says proposals from The Pensions Regulator revealed last month could raise costs too high for employers. The regulator proposes schemes will face increased scrutiny if their mortality assumptions appear weaker than the long cohort assumption, if their assumptions include an improvement rate tending towards zero and they have no form of underpin. Ben Shaw, development director of OPT, says: “The Pensions Regulator hopes the changes will increase employers’ contributions into schemes and reduce calls on the PPF. But I see t...