Still, the trust’s funding gap remains above 1.2 billion pounds, the figure estimated at its last valuation in 2013, due to falling government bond yields pushing up liabilities and changes to how its deficit is calculated, Barker said. Santander is set to pay at least 140 million pounds each year into the retirement funds from 2017 through 2023 to cover a shortfall, according to the bank’s annual report.
“Professional investors are increasingly looking at the impacts that pension deficits are having on companies,” said Andrew Stephens, managing director of BlackRock Inc.’s U.K. institutional business. “Ultimately it’s the sponsoring employer that’s on the hook for paying those benefits."
Go-Kart Track
Barker is currently refurbishing the other marinas in their portfolio and also has plans for the Manchester Arena, which has delivered a return of about 20 percent since its acquisition in 2013. An underground electric go-kart track has just opened at the venue and he’s looking to install a mezzanine floor in the atrium to add more restaurants.
“If you ask my teenage children, it’s our most exciting investment," Barker said, after buying them tickets for Bieber’s performance there in October. "But he’s so 2016. They want Drake tickets next."
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.