70% of trustees said third-party or administrator vulnerabilities were among their main cyber risk, while 50% raised concerns about the protection of member data.
Its DB Redress Tracker showed an estimated average gain of around £65,000 for consumers, up from £59,000 in the third quarter.
Kirsty Cotton said: “The rules should support, rather than constrain, sensible decisions to share surplus with members.”
Its survey found that among schemes in surplus and planning to run on, 76% had not decided how to share surplus between employers and members.
The firm pointed out that with changes to the surplus regime being considered, trustees need to think about how any surplus fits into the scheme’s wider funding and endgame plan.
The central estimate for Q3 2026 is a gain of £59,000, higher than the £40,000 gain seen in the previous three quarters.
Nearly two-thirds (62%) of trustees said they would be more likely to consider run-on strategies under the new Pension Schemes Act 2026.
Buy-in volumes reached £38.2bn in 2025, with buy-in pricing reaching its most competitive levels in early 2026 and continuing into Q2.
The funding ratio stayed at 131.2% and total scheme assets rose by 2.0% to £1,109.6bn, while total liabilities also went up 2.0% to £845.8bn.
The final rules for the 2026/27 levy will be published next month.
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) 7800 Index figures for February 2026 showed a £265.6bn surplus, up by £5.9bn from the previous month.
Compensation fell from around -£16,000 in early 2025 to -£41,000 by early 2026.