Defined benefit members face losing 15 to 20 per cent of their benefits in the current "fragmented" system, sparking calls from the PLSA to investigate the potential for scheme consolidation.

The latest defined benefit taskforce report published at the PLSA conference in Liverpool today, showed that there are almost 6,000 private sector defined benefit schemes in the UK, yet more than 5,000 of these schemes are in deficit.

Chair of the Taskforce Ashok Gupta said: "The current state of DB poses a significant risk to members' benefits for all but the most strongly funded schemes. This especially true in an economic environment in which interest rates continue at their current ultra-low rates.

"The PPF helps mitigate these risks and plays a vital role in providing security for scheme members whose schemes have failed, but members still bear the risk the PPF does not cover.

"For many members the risk is they will lose 15 to 20 per cent of their benefits. Members awareness of this of this risk is extremely low. In 2015 alone, employers paid approximately £31bn into their DB schemes. A total of £11bn of this was deficit recovery contributions - almost the same amount as the UK spent on foreign aid in 2015."

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