Pension funds

Pension funds are the accounts that receive receipts into private or company pension schemes. They are normally administered by the company secretary or a senior figure in the company or contracted out to private firms who specialise in the administration of private company pension funds.

Pension funds are the receipts of all contributions by a firm from employees and employers. The money is often invested in the stock markets and typically, the value of the fund is expected to grow by between five and ten per cent annually.

However, during the stock market crash in 2008 many pension funds fell in value dramatically leading to many firms having a deficit in their pension funds, whereby their expected outgoings in future payments dwarf the receipts left in the pension fund.

Pension fund administrators obviously expect to recoup much of their losses as the stock market recovers and have already done so in many cases. To illustrate how the funds were expected in July 2007, the top 100 UK firms had a surplus of £12 billion but by July 2008 the same firms pension funds had a combined deficit of £41 billion.

	What are the pitfalls of releasing funds from a pension policy? A reader has come across a scheme that is offering to release funds from an old pension scheme he has invested and wants to know the pitfalls.
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	Can I force a previous employer to release my pension funds? A woman wants to know if she can cash in her pension with a previous employer
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