The BT Pension Scheme, the UK's biggest savings fund, has made a dent in its multi-billion-pound deficit after making 12.2% on its money last year, thanks to timely bets on credit and the positive performance of its short-term strategies.

The better-than-expected return beat an 11.6% rise in the scheme's benchmark portfolio, a bespoke, customised benchmark against which a pension scheme's actuaries measure its investment performance. In its annual report, published today, the BT scheme's trustees described the actual performance as "satisfactory".