QUICK FACTS VIABILTY OF FUND • At the 2005 valuation, if the company were unable to continue supporting the fund the assets would only be sufficient to meet just under two-thirds (63%) of its liabilities on an insurance company buyout basis. • Those liabilities are so substantial an independent actuary warned that if the fund was ever discontinued, the insurance market would not be able to support it on a buy-out basis – it would have to continue as a closed fund. • As part of the deficit correction plan agreed with trustees, the company has made extra contributions of over £0.5 billion. An improvement in returns on investments will have helped to reduce the deficit but currently uncertainty once again hangs over the stock market. However, we have concerns over the fund’s investment policy. We consider it leans too much towards risky investments that will benefit the Company if nothing goes wrong rather than others that will not produce such high returns but are much more reliable in the long run. When the stock market drops again, which it undoubtedly will, then our deficit will explode unless something is done to remove risk and lock in the improvements achieved. • We have already put down a marker with the company that we expect pensioners to get a better deal in future, especially if the funding position has dramatically improved.