The aggregate deficit of occupational pension funds covered by the U.K. Pension Protection Fund’s 7800 index decreased 17.2% to £242.3 billion ($367 billion) in April as gilt yields rose.
Increases in nominal and index-linked gilt yields pushed liabilities down 3.8% over the month to £1.516 trillion as of April 30. The PPF said in its update that 15-year gilt yields increased 26 basis points, while 15 year index-linked gilt yields rose 3 basis points.
Assets fell 0.7% to £1.274 trillion in April, despite a 2.6% rise in the FTSE All-Share index.
The funding ratio increased to 84% from 81.4% the previous month.
The index covers 6,057 pension funds. Of those, 79.6% were in deficit, compared with 82.5% as of March 31. The remaining 20.4% had a surplus, up from 17.5% a month earlier.
