There isnt a company on the planet that can afford to replace the shortfall on pensions schemes. The simple fact is that defined benefit schemes were from a bygone age and have not changed the reflect the longer lives of people and the lower returns available in the market.
I have to disagree. Some companies are managing to fund their DB pensions. According to the figures we have been shown by BA approx 22% of companies are not in arrears. Makes you wonder why.
Tesco have done very well wiping a large chunk off the defecit just by adjusting life expectancy down to something more realistic and making assumptions that their returns on investments will be considerably better than current Gilt rates.