University self-administered trusts could face a sharp rise in the value of liabilities, industry experts have warned, sparking calls for a review of the sector’s risk exposure and possible consolidation.

A third of small employers staging in Q1 signed up six months or more ahead of their deadline, but experts have said this encouraging picture could change as micro-employers get set to auto-enrol this summer.

Analysis: In the 1998 film Armageddon, while battling G-force in a shuttle around the moon, hero AJ Frost asks: “Is this supposed to be like this?”

Speciality packaging manufacturer Innovia Films has said it plans to introduce an online retirement planning tool to run in tandem with face-to-face member education, in order to boost employee engagement.

Lawyers have called on providers to ensure members are fully aware of how accessing their pension pots could affect future benefit claims, as schemes grapple with their ‘second line of defence’ obligations.

Consultants have urged defined benefit scheme trustees and sponsors to take action as the one-year countdown to the end of contracting-out approaches.

Analysis: Whether a short-term blip or a longer-term trend, the latest fall in the consumer price index will make schemes sit up and ask themselves whether they could withstand the impact of a move into deflation.

Infrastructure heavyweight John Laing contributed £100m in cash and equity interests to its pension scheme, as part of a deficit recovery schedule that was revised before floating the company in February.