Nearly Half of UK DB Plans Could be Shuttered in 36 Months
A Watson Wyatt news release said of the 75% of employers with DB plans already closed to new members, 48% anticipate shuttering their plans completely within 36 months. Some 9% of plans surveyed are already completely closed.
The 16% of plans currently open to new entrants is expected to fall to 2% within three years, according to the research. Of the companies with DB plans closed to new members, 28% expect to keep the plan open to existing members but on less generous terms.
A quarter said they do not anticipate any additional DB changes, including 16% who have already cut their plan’s benefit levels, Watson Wyatt said.
“More and more employers are taking a long, hard
look at the risks they run through their pension schemes
and saying ‘enough is enough’. Companies who were
delaying a decision on closing their schemes to existing
members until others had stuck their heads above the
parapet are now ready to act,” said Rash Bhabra, head of
corporate consulting at Watson Wyatt, in the news
release. “There is a sense of inevitability that what was
once seen as the nuclear option is starting to become the
norm.”
Watson Wyatt’s findings are based on more than 250 survey
responses, which include many of the UK’s largest
employers.