The trustees of the pension scheme for the UK arm of Dutch insurer Aegon have signed a partial buy-in deal with Scottish Widows – the first of two such deals in June for the Edinburgh-headquartered insurer.
Aegon UK Staff Retirement and Death Benefit Scheme has completed a £160m ($199m) partial buy-in with Scottish Widows, which will cover a certain number of risks: interest rate, inflation and longevity.
UK pension schemes with liability driven investment strategies faced serious distress in October last year when gilt yields soared following a poorly received budget by the UK’s finance minister.
In a press release announcing the deal, Scottish Widows explicitly said the transaction followed discussions with trustees in the aftermath of October’s market volatility.
The deal covers around 500 of the pension scheme’s members which holds roughly £1bn in assets and has a long-term de-risking strategy, according to the press release.
Hymans Robertson acted as the lead adviser on the deal, while Burness Paull provided legal support to the trustee and Scottish Widows was advised by Hogan Lovells.