This week’s pensions cauldron has been bubbling with defined benefit (DB) developments, tax tension, and a few unexpected ingredients.

DB schemes took centre stage, with LCP describing them as “a bright star in a dark sky” for corporate Britain in its latest Corporate Report Autumn 2025.

Once seen as a "threat", the firm said that DB pensions are being increasingly viewed as an opportunity for companies, as improved funding levels open up new strategic options.

However, not every spell has worked as intended. Industry experts have warned that the gateway tests for DB transfers into superfunds remain the main hindrance to their success, limiting the potential of consolidation.

Meanwhile, the member experience has become a defining feature in the buy-in and buyout market, with Hymans Robertson's research suggesting schemes and insurers are competing to deliver smoother, more transparent retirements.

The consultancy also highlighted a broader shift: DB schemes are entering a new era of long-term planning rather than deficit repair under the new DB Funding Code.

Even so, AXA Investment Managers senior portfolio manager, buy and maintain credit, Rob Price, advised schemes not to get complacent, and instead urged trustees to “double down” on liquidity management to stay on course for their long-term goals.

But, if the DB world has been bubbling with optimism this week, the tax and state pension pot has been simmering with tension.

Pensions UK has proposed replacing the long-debated triple lock with a more sustainable uprating mechanism, one that would only start once the state pension reaches a “clear adequacy benchmark”, ensuring a minimum income for a decent retirement.

Despite growing concern over the mounting cost of the triple lock, the government continues to face pressure to preserve it in the upcoming Budget, alongside renewed calls to narrow the “yawning” gender pensions gap through further auto-enrolment reform.

Elsewhere, tax changes have spooked some savers. Industry research suggests that plans to bring unused pensions into the scope of inheritance tax (IHT) have prompted many to withdraw funds early, leaving others “disappointed” or “disillusioned” with the system.

And with the number of pensioners falling into the 60 per cent tax bracket more than doubling in the past three years, the debate over fairness in pension taxation looks set to linger well beyond Halloween.

There have also been renewed calls this week for the industry to strengthen its cyber and data defences.

Trafalgar House cautioned that cyber resilience remains the “weakest link” in pensions, urging a coordinated, market-wide approach to operational readiness to protect members and maintain stability.

Meanwhile, the Pensions Administration Standards Association said that data quality will become increasingly “crucial” as schemes look to harness the potential of AI as it said that the quality of data directly affects how well AI works and its accuracy.

Tensions also surfaced on the industrial front this week.

The Public and Commercial Services union said it felt “vindicated” by the Public Accounts Committee’s criticism of the government’s handling of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, claiming the findings confirmed long-standing concerns about outsourcing and contract management.

In other industrial movements, Labour MPs have intensified calls for ministers to compensate women affected by state pension age changes, as campaigners prepare for a High Court hearing in December.

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