Pension fund security

SIR – Surely, instead of fining directors for mishandling pension cash, Amber Rudd (Commentary, February 10) should introduce rules to ringfence pension money, so that it can only be used for its proper purpose. Mike Duke

East Molesey, Surrey

SIR – In reporting that pension schemes were allowed to “spiral into deficit”, Frank Field (Commentary, February 11) overlooks the main reason why otherwise fully funded ones went into deficit almost overnight.

It was the actions of government and central banks to reduce interest rates artificially in order to cope with the financial crisis – and thus reduce long-term assumptions of return used to calculate pension assets – that immediately put many schemes into serious deficit. Jan Manning

West Chiltington, West Sussex