영국의 100대 기업중 절반 이상이 10년 안에 기업의 DB자산에서 퇴직자에게 지급하던 연금을 외부로 이전(Pension Buy-out)할 것으로 예상된다.

우리나라를 제외한 대다수 국가에서 DB제도는 근로자가 퇴직시에도 국민연금처럼 기업이 종신연금을 퇴직자에게 주는 제도이다.
그러나 영국의 경우 2009년부터 2018년 까지 기간동안 세전이익이 57조파운드에서 134조파운드로 두배 넘게 늘어났지만 DB에 투입하는 보충부담금은 감소한 것으로 나타났다.

기업이 발생한 이익을 어떻게 배분하느냐에 따라 주주배당과 연기금 보충부담금이 결정되는데, 이러한 추세는 당분간 계속될 것으로 보인다.
기업이 장수리스크를 헷지 등을 위해 이런 의사결정을 하고 있는 것으로 보이는데, 영국의 감독원(TPR)은 이러한 추세를 예의주시하고 있다.

출처 : https://www.theactuary.com/news/2019/06/half-of-ftse-100-db-pension-schemes-could-buyout-by-2028/?fbclid=IwAR13194peih6yysXoRvbrFZWmMxuZb_OQoLMi-7rJnnrXICv76MLHZhnsXo

Half of FTSE 100 DB pension schemes could buyout by 2028

More than half of the UK’s 100 largest listed companies will be able to buyout their defined benefit (DB) pension scheme within 10 years, research by Barnett Waddingham has found.

01 JULY 2019 | CHRIS SEEKINGS

DB deficit contributions fall as profits rise ©Shutterstock

The consultancy firm estimates that 20% of FTSE 100 companies will be in a position to buyout their DB scheme within five years, and that 55% will be by 2028.

This comes after post-tax profits for these firms more than doubled from £57bn to £134bn between 2009 and 2018. However, DB deficit contributions fell during that time.

Barnett Waddingham said that diverting an extra 6% of profits into companies’ pensions would allow 70% of FTSE 100 DB schemes to buyout within the next 10 years.

“The DB endgame is increasingly a realistic short-term focus for many companies, and the dividend versus deficit contribution balance is a key lever,” partner, Nick Griggs, said.

The findings show that payments to shareholders increased by 171% to £120bn between 2009 and 2018, while contributions to DB schemes fell 10% to £8.3bn per year.

However, the researchers estimated that doubling annual pension contributions to £16.6bn would allow 30% of FTSE 100 firms to buyout their DB liabilities within five years.

And if current deficit contributions increased by five times, then 60% of FTSE 100 schemes would be in a position to buyout in the next five years.

Barnett Waddingham said that companies would still pay out three times as much to shareholders as they do to pension schemes by taking this more radical approach.

But it warned that political instability and economic uncertainty could disrupt pension deficits, and that The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is likely to be increasingly interventionist.

“Having a robust, coherent plan in place for the DB endgame journey will be the best defence against any intervention from TPR as it will take comfort from the framework that has been put in place,” Griggs added.