One-fourth of FTSE 100 companies in the U.K. still provide defined benefit plans, according to an analysis by pension consultant Isio.
Still, only 10% of the FTSE 100 still provide what Isio said are meaningful defined benefit pensions, and only one company, Croda International, is open to new participants. The survey did not define what Isio considers meaningful.
Of the 24 plans with active members, less than half have significant pension accruals, Isio found.
The analysis was based on publicly available data on the FTSE 100 companies as of March 31.
Isio also found that the number of DB pension funds closing to all participants has more than doubled over the last eight years, with 10 in the last two years, and half of all FTSE 100 DB pension funds fully closed over the last decade.
The Isio analysis cites several reasons, including reducing costs, reducing risk and creating less disparity between defined benefit and defined contribution employer spending.
Scott Kendrick, benefit change lead at Isio, said in the release that some companies are putting pension change on the backburner to avoid potentially disrupting a post-pandemic recovery and tight labor market.
Some of the remaining pension funds have significantly reduced the salary level eligible for DB accruals, making it less likely that they will be fully closed because of the employer cost. "Instead, we expect several of these schemes to be 'run-off' over many years," Mr. Kendrick said.
The tight labor market could force some companies to explore collective defined contribution plans, decumulation vehicles and better member engagement tools, he said. A call for further details was not immediately returned.
