Diageo, the drinks group, bailed out its underfunded pension scheme with whisky. BA gave its scheme an option over some planes. Sainsbury's and Tesco have put up property. Now Philips, the Dutch electronics group, has handed its pension fund a 14% stake in a semiconductor business whose shares have fallen almost 15% since it listed last month.

The chipmaker in question is NXP Semiconductors, once a full subsidiary of Philips, which was sold to private equity buyers Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bain Capital Partners in 2006. Apax Partners, AlpInvest Partners, Silver Lake also own stakes in the company, and Philips retained at 17% throughout.