§ Lord Higginsasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the answer by the Baroness Hollis of Heigham on 27 May (HL Deb, col. 1040), whether they will place in the Library of the House the analysis which supports the view that "what has happened on the stock market … has wiped one third or so off the value of pension funds"; and how that estimate compares with that made by the major urns specialising in pension performance measures. [HL4626]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)As of 20 June this year, the stock market had fallen in value by almost exactly one third to 4,639 points from its peak at 6,950 points in December 1999.
The overall effect of this fall on the value of pension funds is dependent on individual pension fund asset distribution, determined by individual scheme investment strategy. However, since a substantial proportion of all pension funds are invested in equities, it follows that the reduction in their value is likely to be of the same general order as the overall reduction in stock market values.