U.K. defined benefit occupational pension funds' aggregate deficit dropped 20% in February to £61.2 billion ($101.7 billion), according to the Pension Protection Fund's 7800 index.
That decrease came despite total liabilities increasing by 0.2% during the month to £1.2 trillion. Total assets, however, were up 1.6% for the month, to £1.1 trillion.
Figures from the PPF 7800 index, which covers 6,150 pension funds in the U.K., show funding levels also increased, to 94.9% compared with 93.7% for January. The funding ratio represents aggregate assets as a percentage of aggregate liabilities.
Pension plans in deficit represented 64.2% of the total DB plans in the index.
The biggest driver behind the asset increase is equities, the PPF said in its update. The FTSE All-Share index rose 4.9% in February.
