Author: Greg Winterton

Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, has concluded a £100m bulk purchase annuity transaction covering members of two linked pension schemes sponsored by a provider of catering, onboard retail and food service logistics to the travel industry.  This full scheme buy-in, which completed in April, involved combining three pension scheme sections into one transaction, securing the benefits of around 2,100 members across the schemes.  “This transaction saw us work closely with the trustees, led by Vidett, and its advisers to help meet the specific requirements of schemes,” said Emma Haylock, BPA Transaction Manager at Standard Life.  “The collaborative approach by…

Australian equity release/reverse mortgage provider Household Capital has completed its first rated mortgage securitisation. HHC 2024-1 RMBS Trust is an AU$263m mortgage securitisation rated by Moody’s. The arranger and sole lead manager on the transaction was Citigroup Global Markets Australia.  “Our inaugural mortgage portfolio securitisation is a great outcome for Australian retirees and a big step forward in the evolution of Household Capital,” said Joshua Funder, Household Capital CEO.   “The quality of our customers and the low-risk nature of the mortgages we originate were critical in attracting local and global investors to sustainably scale retirement housing and funding and help…

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries has announced that Nicola Draper has been elected as an Honorary Fellow.  The election was confirmed by an online member vote in July 2024.  Draper was nominated for an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of her services to medicine and public health, including her service as Co-Chair of the Covid-19 Actuaries Response Group. She is a leading expert in public health and associated mortality, morbidity, and longevity risk. In 2007, she co-founded the firm Medical Intelligence, which now provides ongoing research and support to actuaries from many of the leading consultancies, pension, and insurance companies…

Asset managers Twelve Capital and Securis Investment Partners have announced their intention to merge. The two firms are active in the insurance-linked securities space, with both life and non-life exposures. The duo say that the merger will create a $7.8bn assets under management firm. The new firm will be led by Urs Ramseier, Co-Founder of Twelve Capital, who becomes Chief Executive Officer, with Herbie Lloyd, Chief Investment Officer of Securis, becoming CIO Private ILS and Head of UK and Bermuda. “We have always recognised Securis as an innovative and hugely respected business in the ILS market, and the combination of…

UBS Group has signed an agreement to sell its 100% holding in Credit Suisse Insurance Linked Strategies Ltd to the CSILS management team led by Niklaus Hilti.  Upon closing, CSILS will operate independently from UBS under a new name and will continue to manage the funds and single investor fund mandates.  “We are incredibly excited about this strategic transaction for us which marks another significant milestone in the journey of the CSILS team. It reinforces our commitment to our clients and marks a pivotal moment that allows us to build on our strong foundation and focus on our mission and…

EY has appointed Swapnil Katkar as a new Partner in the firm’s London office to lead bulk purchase annuity and capital markets solutions within EY’s pensions consulting business.  Katkar will lead a team of 15 consultants across the UK to grow EY’s advisory and transaction solutions for pension funds and sponsors, with a focus on buy-ins and buy-outs, captive insurance, reinsurance, and illiquid asset transactions. As part of his role, he joins EY’s UK Pensions Leadership Team.   Katkar has joined EY from PwC UK, where he led pension risk transfer and advised schemes ranging from small to multi-billion pound in…

Encouraging more Australians to access equity in their homes combined with changes to stamp duty and the Age Pension could give asset-rich, income-poor retirees a valuable income boost and help free up more housing for young families, a new paper published by the Institute of Actuaries of Australia suggests.  The paper, More Than Just a Roof: Changing the Narrative on the Role of the Home, calls for a rethink on how the home is traditionally viewed, changing from a ‘nest egg’ to a key financial asset retirees can use as an income stream in retirement.  More than three million Australians…

UK industry group the Equity Release Council has published its quarterly update for Q2 2024. Total lending in the market was up +15% on the first quarter, with a +12% rise in new customers observed as well.  That double-digit rise in the number of customers taking out new products made Q2 2024 the busiest quarter for almost a year for the equity release market in terms of total customers served and total lending activity.  In addition, existing drawdown customers, who are allocated a cash reserve when they first take equity release, continued to make use of this facility.  A +3%…

Consulting and actuarial firm Milliman’s latest Milliman Pension Buyout Index shows that during June, the estimated cost to transfer retiree pension risk to an insurer in a competitive bidding process decreased from 100.7% of a plan’s accounting liabilities (accumulated benefit obligation, or ABO) to 100.3% of those liabilities.  That means the estimated retiree PRT cost is now 100.3% of a plan’s ABO. During the same time period, the average annuity purchase cost across all insurers in our index rose slightly, from 103.2% to 103.3%. The competitive bidding process is estimated to save plan sponsors about 3.0% of PRT costs as…

Abacus Life is acquiring Carlisle Management Company SCA, a Luxembourg-based investment manager in the life settlement space, for approximately $200m. Carlisle has approximately $2 bn in assets under management and is licensed as an Alternative Investment Fund Manager under the oversight of the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier in Luxembourg. “We are excited to be joining the industry-leading team at Abacus. The transaction will provide a myriad of potential opportunities and synergies that will be available to our funds, shareholders, and our employees,” said Carlisle Management’s Chief Executive Officer Jose Garcia. “Our company cultures are a perfect fit, and…