Virgin Media 2010 Annual Report Download - page 138

VIRGIN MEDIA INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)
Note 12—Employee Benefit Plans (continued)
December 31, 2009
Fair value hierarchy
Asset category Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
Equity Securities ...................................... £115.2 £ — £— £115.2
Government Bonds .................................... 100.3 — — 100.3
Corporate Bonds ...................................... 55.2 — — 55.2
Real Estate .......................................... 4.1 — — 4.1
Hedge Funds ......................................... — 27.6 — 27.6
Cash ............................................... 3.8 — — 3.8
Total ............................................... £278.6 £27.6 £— £306.2
The trustees of the main defined benefit pension plan, which makes up approximately 79% of the assets of
our two defined benefit pension plans, have in place an investment strategy that targets an allocation of 40%
equities, 10% fund of hedge funds, 3% property and 47% bonds and cash, at December 31, 2010. The assets are
managed by a number of fund managers, which means as markets move relative to each other the assets move
away from the target investment strategy. Relatively small deviations from the target investment strategy are
permitted; however, rebalancing of the assets will be carried out from time to time. As the main defined benefit
pension scheme is now closed to new entrants, it is anticipated that the investment strategy will move towards a
higher proportion of bonds over time to reflect the steadily maturing profile of liabilities and the improvement in
the funding position.
There were no directly owned shares of our common stock included in the equity securities at December 31,
2010 or 2009.
Estimated Future Benefit Payments
The benefits expected to be paid out of the pension plans in total are set out below for each of the next five
years and the following five years in aggregate. The benefits expected to be paid are based on the same
assumptions used to measure our benefit obligation at December 31, 2010 and include estimated future employee
services (in millions):
Year ending December 31:
Pension
Benefits
2011 .............................................. £ 13.0
2012 .............................................. 13.9
2013 .............................................. 14.8
2014 .............................................. 15.8
2015 .............................................. 16.8
Years 2016-2020 .................................... £103.2
Defined Contribution Pension Plans
Our subsidiaries operate defined contribution pension plans in the U.K. The total expense in relation to these
plans was £14.0 million, £15.1 million and £14.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008,
respectively.
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