Author: Aaron Woolner

The MMC UK Pension Fund has completed a £2bn ($2.5bn) longevity swap, covering the liabilities of 14,500 pensioners, and deferred members. According to a press release announcing the move, the longevity swap is the second largest deal of its kind in the UK covering more deferred than active scheme members. The swap is insured via a Guernsey-based incorporated cell company Fission Gamma IC Limited, managed by March Captive Solutions Guernsey,. The swap was simultaneously reinsured by Munich Re. This is the second longevity swap deal which has been struck by the UK arm of the US metals distributor. In 2017…

Legal & General has signed a £500m ($610m) buy-in deal with the Deutsche Bank (UK) Pension Scheme, in a move which covers the benefits of around 2,000 retirees and deferred members. The pension fund is sponsored by a UK subsidiary of Deutsche Bank and this is the second buy-in deal it has agreed this year. In April it signed a £400 million contract with Aviva, which covered nearly 900 scheme members. Deutsche Bank also announced a £570m buy-in deal with Legal & General in February 2021, bringing its total value of buy-ins to £1.5bn over the last two and half…

According to the World Health Organisation, there are approximately 1.3 billion global users of tobacco. Each year, eight million die – a number which includes more than one million passive smokers. Governments globally are trying to reduce the number of people smoking but they are dealing with the issue in different ways.   The UK introduced a ‘swap to stop’ scheme in April that allows smokers to exchange their cigarettes for an electronic substitute. Health Minister Neil O’Brien heralded the initiative as a global first in a speech announcing its introduction as the UK looks to cut cigarette use to less…

The Rotork pension fund has agreed a £80m ($99m) buy-in deal with UK insurer Aviva, following a £20m cash contribution from its sponsor Rotork PLC.Bath-based industrial manufacturer Rotork has offloaded the liabilities of 406 pensioners and dependents from the Rotork Pension & Life Assurance Scheme.Actuarial consultants LCP was the trustee’s de-risking adviser, and lead adviser for the transaction, with additional advice given to the trustees by Barnett Waddingham and Gowling WLG.The transaction was made possible following the £20m cash contribution in June this year which saw the scheme go from a deficit of £8m in December 2022 to a surplus…

Clara Pensions has signed the UK’s first superfund pension deal after reaching an agreement with the trustees of the Sears Retail Pension Scheme.Under the agreement 9,600 members of Sears’ pension fund will be transferred to Clara Pensions after clearance was agreed by the UK’s Pensions Regulator (TPR). The transfer process is expected to start this month. The deal includes an additional £30m of ring-fenced funding to support the pension scheme in the absence of an ongoing employer covenant. The superfund concept was introduced in 2018 and Clara Pensions was the first entity to receive approval from TPR.Superfunds are analogous to insurance buyouts…

Newell Brands has signed a bulk purchase annuity deal with an unnamed US insurer which will see the firm transfer up to $175m of pension scheme liabilities off its balance sheet. The deal by Atlanta-based home goods manufacturer was revealed in a October 27 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and is the second such transaction it has conducted. The latest deal will see Newell Brands transfer between $160m and $175m of pension liabilities to the insurer, accounting for 55% of its total pension scheme liabilities, according to the firm’s regulatory filing. Newell previously bought a group…

The Bayer Group Pension Plan has offloaded a major chunk of its liabilities after striking a £280m ($340m) buy-in deal with insurer Canada Life. Canada Life now has responsibility for about 40% of the pensions in payment liabilities of the UK arm of the German pharmaceutical firm, covering about 1,400 scheme members. This is the first transaction of its type for the pension plan but further deals could be on the horizon, given that an umbrella contract was also signed as part of the deal which will enable Bayer to offload further liabilities in the future. Actuarial consultant LCP acted…

Specialist materials manufacturer Owens Corning has agreed a deal with an unnamed insurer to offload nearly $300m of its pension liabilities via a bulk purchase annuity contract. The Ohio-based firm made the statement in a 10-Q filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission where it revealed a $291m deal to offload both US and non-US pension liabilities was struck on October 12 this year. The deal is slated to close in the fourth quarter of 2023 and in its 10K filing, Owen Corning said that the transaction would be funded via the pension scheme’s $268m worth of assets. As part…

Dallas-based ATI Inc has signed a group annuity deal with pension risk transfer (PRT) specialist Athene which will see 85% of its pension obligations transferred to the insurer. ATI Inc announced this week that it has signed a deal to purchase group annuity contracts from Athene Annuity and Life Company and Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company of New York to offload the majority of its pension scheme. ATI Inc’s defined benefit pension plans had liabilities of $1.77bn at the end of 2022 according to the announcement, which did not specify the value of the annuity contract. The deals will…

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group Pension Scheme has completed a £335m ($410m) bulk purchase annuity (BPA) deal with Standard Life, which covers the benefits of 1,740 scheme members. The transaction with Standard Life, part of the Phoenix Group, covers both of the LSE’s pension schemes, one for the LSE itself and the second for its associated clearing operation, LCH, and was completed in May this year. Aon acted as lead adviser on the deal while legal advice was given to the trustees by Eversheds Sutherland and investment advice by pensions consultancy Redington. Standard Life was advised by Herbert Smith…