Ah, the fading hope of a new year. Inevitably, despite the equity market recovery in December, volatility had never left global markets.
The problems that stalked markets in the second half of 2014 have returned, principal among them the challenges facing the eurozone.
Last week it fell into deflation for the first time in more than five years, making commentators near certain that Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, will launch a quantitative easing programme to try and stop the rot.
Such anticipation forced yields on German two-year bonds to a record low of -0.11 per cent, with investors enlivened both by the imminent prospect of QE and the prospect of anti-austerity Syriza party coming to power in Greece.
Illustration by Ben Jennings
I am not sure how many new and interesting ways journalists can describe the ever-lower yield environment in which investors are trapped.
For pension funds, yields continue to suffocate the life out of defined benefit schemes, encouraging employers to close them and lop off as much of the liabilities as they defensibly can.
In what felt like a significant late chapter in the history of DB at the UK’s largest employers, Tesco’s boss has announced a consultation on closing its final salary scheme.
For something that many have seen as unavoidable, it is easy to forget how quickly times have changed for some employers. Back in 2010 when the grocer's former boss Sir Terry Leahy told the Independent the company would not be closing its scheme, he gave a telling statement.
“It’s a great savings vehicle for the future which helps us recruit and retain the best people,” he told the paper. “I think people will look back and say it’s a big error to have let these schemes go by the wayside.”
Of course, getting rid of DB does not get rid of the impact of market problems on pensions. It just moves them from the battle-weary to the vulnerable.
Ian Smith is editor of Pensions Expert. You can follow him on Twitter @iankmsmith and the team @pensions_expert.