Returns were minus 0.9 percent for the year, BNY Mellon estimated, due to a negative return of 4.8 percent during the third quarter. All other quarters of the year saw slightly positive returns. "2011 was a very volatile year for assets of pension funds," Alan Wilcock, performance and risk analytics manager at BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, said in a statement. This volatility is reflected starkly in emerging market and Europe ex-UK equities, which posted annual returns of minus 17.8 percent and minus 15.2 percent respectively. Allocations to UK equities reached an all-time low in 2011 of 19 percent, compared with 47.1 percent 10 years ago, BNY Mellon said. Despite recording an estimated average return of 8.4 percent a year since the financial crisis first erupted in 2008, Wilcock is cautious about the outlook. "Although returns were only slightly negative for the year as a whole, higher inflation and lower long-term interest rates will have added to pension scheme liabilities," he said. Reflecting the heightened concern over the future path of inflation, UK pension funds almost tripled holdings of index-linked Gilts to 15 percent from 5.7 percent over a 10 year period. Safe-haven plays also saw fixed-income allocations rise to 29.5 percent from 18.5 percent, most significantly within non-Gilts, the survey shows.