Food group Unilever’s decision to consult with its workers on the closure of its £5.4bn UK pension scheme to future accruals at the end of the year marks the end of an era for the final salary pensions movement.

For years, Unilever's investment team, led in the UK by Wendy Mayall, has sought to be at the cutting edge of investment strategy, manager selection and governance. Assuming the scheme does close, by the end of the year, it will steadily shift from equities to bonds, as it de-risks. In March 2010 its weighting in equities was 61%.