the reason this fund and similar funds are in deficit is because they do trade- BADLY. a lot of these funds have been wined dined by wall st bankers and whored out the pension fund to trade in exotic and high growth investments at the expense of hard working peoples savings etc etc. these companies have not 'INVESTED' for years. they dont know what the term means anomore. im not saying i know the exact make up of a pension fund but it strikes me as weird when if you have 'INVESTED' in equites in the last bull run from 2001 to 2007 and lost what makes them think doubling the exposure will make it work. these funds should be 'INVESTED'in government bonds domestically and overseas, blue chip stocks, cash and top corporate projects that all offer low returns. not spunking money on sivs, subprime investments , exotic derivatives plays and any old equity trading.
You could be right. It's just that when they offer O% transfers, they aren't making money on lending money in the traditional sense.