Author: Aaron Woolner
The ITB Pension Funds’ Open Fund has signed a $330m (£290m) buy-in deal with UK retirement specialist Just Group, which means that all members’ benefits have now been insured. This is the fifth and final transaction the ITB fund has conducted and, in a press release announcing the move, LCP ‑ who advised on the deal ‑ said that the timing had been accelerated following a recent material improvement in the scheme’s funding position. The ITB Pension Fund was set-up in 1983 and provides retirement benefits to members of the Construction Industry Training Board. Just Group has been active in…
The pension scheme of UK ferry operator P&O has completed a £440m ($560m) buy-in with specialist insurer Rothesay which means that all member benefits are now insured. This is the second such buy-in deal conducted by the P&O pension scheme; the first was in 2007, with the now defunct buy-in firm Paternoster, which Rothesay acquired as part of its purchase of the insurer in 2011. The latest buy-in secures the benefits of 5,300 members and was agreed in August. It is the second deal announced by Rothesay in August and follows a $330m buy-in with the Smith & Nephew UK…
The Canadian pension risk transfer market (PRT) saw a record level of activity in 2022, with a total of 155 deals worth a combined C$7.8bn ($5.8bn) struck last year, according to a recent report by Eckler’s, actuarial consultancy. According to the Ontario-based Eckler’s sixth annual report on the Canadian PRT market, this followed a record level of activity in 2021, with both years well ahead of the C$4.5bn worth of deals transacted in 2020. Eckler’s report said that Sun Life is the market leader with a 27% market share of the Canadian PRT sector in 2022, and the insurer currently has 120,000…
UK pension risk transfer specialist (PRT) Rothesay has signed a £260m ($330m) buy-in deal with the UK pension fund of Smith & Nephew.The multinational medical device manufacturer has now completely insured all of its members benefits following a series of previous deals inked with Rothesay in 2013, 2017 and 2022, respectively.The latest tranche of the pension fund’s de-risking process sees close to 1,900 pensioners and dependents, plus 2,315 deferred members’ liabilities, transferred to the UK insurer.LCP acted for the trustee as the lead broker on the transaction. Eversheds Sutherland and DLA Piper provided legal advice to Rothesay, and Travers Smith…
The UK’s Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) carries out research into mortality and morbidity experience using data from pension schemes and insurers. The CMI released its base series of projections (known as the ‘92’ series, after the year its data came from) in 1999 and on a regular basis since. The CMI is an offshoot of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and it released its latest set of projections in the middle of July (CMI_22). These projections are based on data from 2022, and unlike the previous two years, this time the committee decided to incorporate Covid-19 data into their…
US clean energy firm Public Service Enterprise Group has completed a $1bn pension ‘lift out’ with the Prudential Insurance Company of America (Prudential Financial). The New York state-based renewables outfit made the deal public in its second quarter results when it stated that the pension benefits of 2,000 retirees from its PSEG Power & Other subsidiary would be insured as a result of the transaction. A ‘lift-out’ refers to the partial insurance of a scheme rather than a complete buy-in or plan termination. According to the press release, Prudential Financial will take over all pension payments by the end of…
US breakfast food firm Kellogg’s has offloaded $590m of its liabilities linked to its UK pension scheme to an undisclosed insurer. The Michigan-based firm revealed the deal in its latest 10-Q filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which stated the transaction closed in May. The deal was structured as a buy-in, meaning that the cereal maker retains responsibility for the administration and payment of the pensions, with the longevity and investment risk sitting on the insurer’s balance sheet. Kellogg’s move follows a $268m buy-in for its UK plan in December 2022 and the third major pension de-risking move…
GWG Holdings, which invests in a number of insurance markets, including life settlements, has completed its bankruptcy process, according to a filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. According to the filing, the bankruptcy plan was approved by the court on June 20 and became effective on August 1 2023. GWG first filed for bankruptcy in April 2022 and the move was sparked by its default on bond payments two months earlier. A large number of retail investors put money in GWG, meaning the firm has 27,000 creditors. Mayer Brown served as restructuring counsel to…
Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) has struck a £5bn ($6.4bn) longevity swap with the UK-based BT Pension Scheme (BTPS). BTPS is one of the UK’s largest pension funds, with 270,000 members and nearly £50bn of assets under management. The deal with RGA is a combination of longevity insurance, with a reinsurance component, and is the second such transaction the scheme has completed. In 2014 the scheme agreed a £16bn longevity swap with the Prudential Insurance Company of America, which at the time was three times bigger than any previous similar transaction. In a press release announcing the move, BTPS said…
Standard Life has signed a £1.2bn ($1.5bn) bulk purchase annuity deal (BPA) with UK bar and restaurant firm Mitchells & Butlers. The BPA deal covers over 20,000 members of the Mitchells & Butlers pension plan, both deferred members and pensioners. The transaction was concluded in May and it now means that all members of both the Mitchells & Butlers Pension Plan, and the Mitchells & Butlers Executive Pension Plan are now fully insured. In a press release announcing the deal, the chairman of the pension plan trustees said that the deal followed strong investment performance and as a result had…