The UK's pension schemes halved their allocations to private equity and real estate, according to the most comprehensive annual survey of the sector, pulling out some of their capital in the wake of falls in value.

A survey of 300 schemes with a total of £410bn (€450bn) of assets, just published by the National Association of Pension Funds, showed the average allocation to private equity fell from 2.5% to 1%, as at the end of June each year.