The Work and Pensions Committee inquiry into the collapse of outsourcer Carillion has turned its scrutiny on the 'big four' professional services companies, and has published the consultancies' responses to queries about their involvement.

Consolidation will see just 1,000 defined benefit schemes still operating in 25 years’ time, according to a new report, but some experts doubt the appetite from government or the private sector to bring about economies of scale.

UK occupational pension assets grew 16.9 per cent over 2017 to cement Britain’s position as the second-largest market in the world, but concerning trends in saver attitudes suggest market returns may be masking fundamental problems.

With forecasts full of promise in the short term and risks in the long, how should schemes position their asset portfolios, and what should trustees ask their advisers in investment discussions?

The trustees of failed TV rental business Box Clever’s defined benefit pension scheme have come under scrutiny for their decisions involving the fund’s setup, as part of an Upper Tribunal hearing on the company’s collapse.

The leveraging up of TV rental company Box Clever put members’ pensions at risk while extracting maximum value for its shareholders, a landmark Upper Tribunal case about the Pensions Regulator’s powers has heard.

Analysis: Sponsor covenant and failed defined benefit promises are in the headlines again with the collapse of outsourcing giant Carillion. Could the liquidation be indicative of a wider national inability to pay pensions, and how should trustees react to a deterioration in their covenant?