Author: Aaron Woolner
The UK pension fund of Australian flag carrier Qantas has conducted a £40m ($51m) buy-in with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), the second such deal between the two firms. The first deal, valued at £25m, took place in 2018 and according to a statement released by PIC, the follow-up transaction means that all Qantas UK pension scheme member benefits are now fully insured. The latest transaction covers the benefits of 62 current pensioners and 168 deferred members. The chairman of the pension scheme trustees said in the PIC statement that the latest transaction was part of an Aon-devised de-risking strategy which…
UK insurer Aviva has completed a £120m ($154m) buy-in deal with the NTL 1999 Pension Scheme that will cover the benefits of roughly 650 scheme members. The NTL 1999 Pension Scheme covers former employees of National Transcommunications Limited (NTL), the privatised UK Independent Broadcasting Authority transmission-network which was rebranded NTL in 1998. The deal does not fully insure the NTL 1999 Pension Scheme liabilities. But in a statement announcing the deal, Ross Russell, the chair of the fund’s trustees, said that the deal stabilised the fund and formed part of a long-term goal. The tender process for the buy-in was…
Abacus Life Settlements and an affiliate, Longevity Market Assets, listed on the NASDAQ exchange in early July. The move came as part of a $618m merger with East Resources Acquisition Company, a Florida-based special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. The combined firms will trade under the name Abacus Life and will use the ticker ABL. The listing comes shortly after the specialist Life Settlement firm appointed Nicholas Sawuk as Managing Director as part of what the company says in an expansion strategy which has seen headcount increase 43% of the last 12 months. Abacus Life Settlements was established in 2004,…
The pension scheme of UK property services firm Hammerson Group has signed a £90m ($118m) bulk annuity deal with FTSE listed retirement specialists, Just Group. Although the deal has only just been announced it was completed at the end of 2022, according to a press release from actuarial consultants LCP, which advised the trustees. The deal insures retirement benefits for the entire pension scheme, the size of which was not disclosed in the release. According to LCP, the bulk annuity transaction was the culmination of a pensions de-risking strategy which has seen Hammerson providing a corporate guarantee and injecting £55m…
The world’s third largest asset manager, Fidelity Investments, is entering the US pension risk transfer (PRT) market by setting up a reinsurance arm in Bermuda. The US PRT market is set for a record-breaking 2023, and the Boston-headquartered fund manager becomes the latest firm to look for opportunities in the sector. Other recent entrants have included Reinsurance Group of America, Global Atlantic and American National. Fidelity has set-up Soteria Re in Bermuda as a vehicle to enter the US PRT sector but so far there is limited information about the firm with its website simply saying, “coming soon”.…
The US pension risk transfer (PRT) market saw its biggest year in 2022, with AON recording a total of 568 transactions, worth $52bn — a 28% rise on the previous year and a record for the sector. This heightened level of activity has continued into 2023 with Legal & General Retirement America’s (LGRA) Q1 2023 PRT Monitor reporting around $6bn worth of deals in the first three months of 2023, ahead of the $5.3bn recorded a year earlier. LGRA said it was likely the first half of 2023 would see a record $23bn worth of transactions. Big name US corporates…
UK water services firm, United Utilities has struck a $2.3bn bulk purchase annuity deal (BPA) with insurer Legal & General. In a press release announcing the move the utility provider said that it had transferred roughly two thirds of its pension obligations which will now be administered and paid by Legal & General. United Utilities’ press release did not specify the exact number of pension scheme members being transferred to Legal & General but the firm closed its plan to new members in 2006 and subsequently offered a mixture of defined contributions and hybrid plans to its employees. Legal &…
Standard Life has conducted a $1,3bn (£1bn) bulk purchase annuity (BPA) with two separate pension schemes linked to its fellow insurer, both plans are sponsored by subsidiaries of APi Group Corporation. Standard Life, which is part of Phoenix Group, agreed the BPA with the Chubb Pension Plan and the Chubb Security Pension Fund in June 2023 and it covers 14,000 pension members across both schemes. Barnett Waddingham was the lead actuarial and investment advisers, while legal advice was provided to both sets of Trustees by pensions advisory CMS. Standard Life’s deal with the personal and business lines insurance provider is…
The pension scheme backed by the Mabey Holding Group,a UK-based construction firm, has struck a £94m ($120m) buy-in transaction with Just Group. The deal was completed in three months and follows a series of transactions for Just Group which has struck a £40m deal with BUT Retirement Benefits Scheme, and a £190m buy-in for the Ibstock Pension Scheme; the second one between the two firms. The Mabey pension scheme has 1000 members. Mabey Holdings, was advised by pensions management firm Isio on the deal. Isio also advised Zedra Governance, the scheme’s trustee. Osborne Clarke was legal adviser to the trustee…
Annuity and structured settlement purchasers DRB Capital has appointed Ravi Correa, who holds nearly three decades experience in the sector as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Prior to joining DRB Capital, Correa was CFO for Angel Oak Lending, where he leveraged financing capacity to $650M at a firm with over $10B of assets under Management. Correa replaces Jerome Parsley who has acted as CFO for DRB Capital for more than a decade. It is not clear what Parsley’s next role is at this stage. In a statement released announcing the appointment DRB Capital’s CEO, Bruce Jaeger, said that Correa’s addition to…