FTSE 100 companies face a £26bn 'longevity gap'

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FTSE 100 companies are in danger of sleepwalking into reporting an unnecessary £26bn of pension liabilities in their accounts, Hewitt Associates warns.

The consultant said the additional amount relates to the differing assumptions used by companies and trustees in predicting the life expectancy of the members of UK's largest defined benefit pension funds. It said FTSE 100 companies currently assume a life expectancy for a 60 year old male of around 86 years in their annual accounts on average. But it said trustees of the same schemes were predicting life expectancy of around 88 years. And it warned companies against simply adopting trustees' longevity assumptions as they have done in the past - noting scheme funding and accounting...

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