The actuaries, consultants and other advisers whose job it is to counsel companies on their pensions problems are perplexed by the Pensions Regulator's rejection of Reader's Digest's scheme rescue plan.

Reader's Digest, the US magazine company, had offered to pay £11m (€12m) to its UK pensions scheme, reportedly struggling with a deficit of £125m, as well as giving it a substantial equity stake in a restructured Reader's Digest UK.