Global pension funds have gained back some of their value during the first six months of 2009, an international survey has revealed.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that the overall value of the schemes rose by £918 billion during the period.
However, the pension funds had lost around £3.3 trillion during 2008, due to the near-unprecedented market volatility caused by the credit crisis.
These losses were due mainly to the heavy exposure pension funds have to equities.
The damage done to asset values by the crunch is likely to lead to many people retiring on smaller incomes than they had been expecting – particularly if their pension plan had been heavily exposed to the stock market.
This could in turn lead to an increase in the popularity of alternative sources of income, such as equity release plans.
"It will be some time before the 2008 losses are fully recouped," the OECD added.
The FTSE 100, London’s flagship stock index, lost roughly 35 per cent of its value during 2008.
Posted by Tom Papworth
