Via this post on Crooked Timber I found this older post which covers many of the points I made (and more) in my own post here.
The trouble with pension funds is that for too long, they have been treated as if they were benefits provided by a benevolent employer, rather than as a long-dated financial claim. Pension fund claimants have few rights; they have the right that the employer keep sufficient financial asset holdings to reassure an actuary that the claims can be paid, and that these asset holdings be held in a trust legally separate from the company. They have the right to appoint a minority of the trustees of that trust. And that is about it.
This mugs guide to pensions is worth reading too.
[Declaration of interest - I've got mine - in my case following from being made redundant]
