The average time for FTSE 350 defined benefit (DB) pension schemes to reach buyout rose by 0.3 years over January, analysis from Barnett Waddingham has revealed.

Barnett Waddingham’s DB End Gauge found that the time to buyout increased from the 5.1 years recorded at the end of December 2022 to 5.4 years at the end of January 2023.

The increase was attributed by Barnett Waddingham to a fall in bond yields causing liabilities to rise, which, although partially offset by a slight drop in long-term inflation expectations, outweighed “strong” asset performance over the month.

Although there was a rise in time to buyout, Barnett Waddingham's DB End Gauge showed that the time to buyout has fallen year-on-year, as the time to buyout was 10.5 years at the end of January 2022.

The index also showed that this was the second time that the time to buyout had increased over the past 12 months.

The DB End Gauge is calculated with data collected from the annual accounts of FTSE 350 companies and covers 160 companies with DB pension arrangements.

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