Defined benefit (DB) funding levels have remained “robust” despite the significant volatility in global financial markets caused by US President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs, Broadstone's Sirius Index has revealed.

Broadstone's Sirius Index, which monitors how various pension scheme strategies are performing on their journeys to self-sufficiency, showed that Broadstone’s fully-hedged scheme “weathered this turbulence” and saw no deterioration in its funding position which returned to 69.1 per cent at the end of April - the same as at the end of the previous month.

The index showed that the 50 per cent hedged scheme also recovered well from the initial market shock but saw a slight dip in funding from 104.4 per cent at the end of March to 103.6 per cent at the end of April, remaining above the self-sufficient funding level.

Commenting on the update, Broadstone head of trustee services, Chris Rice, said: "April was the most volatile month in pension scheme funding we’ve seen for over a year, thanks to the market movements caused by the US administration’s continually evolving tariff policy.

“Thankfully, the initial funding deterioration was recovered as the month progressed, and scheme funding was not materially impacted by the end of April.”

Rice said it is “pleasing” to see both its fully hedged scheme and 50 per cent hedged scheme manage this volatility well, with the benefits of hedging coming through strongly over the month.

“Global economies are braced for further disruption as the impact of the tariffs become clearer and uncertainty lingers over the future path of the White House’s trade policy,” he said.

He emphasised that trustees should be “closely monitoring” developments but noted that those able to navigate through this period still seem well-set to achieve their end-game objectives with a growing range of insurers servicing “buoyant demand” across the market.

“Preparation alongside solid data and administration remain the key to attracting an insurer and transacting rapidly,” he added.

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