Large companies in Europe are overestimating growth in pension fund assets, which is flattering profits, research by Japanese bank Nomura has revealed.

Nomura said firms that commonly estimate pension fund growth at between 7.5% and 10.5% effectively increase profits by around 5%. It calculates long-term pension fund growth to be closer to 6.5%, with 7.8% from equities and 5.5% from bonds.