Balancing the books

Resolving mismatches in pension assets and liabilities is now a major focus for UK companies. However, WH Smith took the plunge last year and was one of the early adopters of a liability-driven investment strategy to reduce its yawning pension deficit. Hann Ho reports

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Pension deficits are quickly becoming the number one item on many UK company agendas. The introduction of accounting standard FRS17 last year elevated pension liabilities from little-noticed items in the footnotes to headline-grabbing figures on the balance sheet, while a sharp drop in UK bond yields in January briefly added an estimated £30 million to the pension deficits of FTSE-100 companies.

Pension black holes have obstructed mergers and acquisitions involving UK firms, while the country's

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