The total deficit of all U.K. corporate defined benefit funds increased 5.5% in March to £269 billion ($402 billion), JLT Employee Benefits' latest analysis shows.
A 0.9% increase in total assets in the month to £1.282 trillion was more than offset by a 1.7% rise in liabilities, to £1.551 trillion.
The funded status of these pension funds remained steady at 83%.
However, compared with figures as March 31, 2014, the deficit increased 66%. The funding level dropped from 88% as of date.
The 100 largest companies' pension funds saw their total deficit increase 4.7% to £89 billion as of March 31, while the funding level dropped to 86% from 87% as of Feb. 28. Over the past 12 months, the deficit increased 50.8%, and the funding level fell from 90%.
There was a similar story for FTSE 350 companies' pension funds. The total deficit increased 4.1% in March to £101 billion, and by 50.7% for the year ended March 31. The funding level decreased to 86% from 87% as of Feb. 28, and from 90% as of March 31, 2014.
