Browsing: Pension Risk Transfer

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ announcement that she wants to unshackle billions of pounds locked in defined benefit (DB) pension fund surpluses has raised questions about how such a move might impact the country’s bulk purchase annuity market.

Aggregate surplus fell from £239.0bn in January to £232.7bn at the end of February.

The transaction scope includes blocks of in-force structured settlement annuities and secondary guarantee universal life business

The transaction covers over 850 deferred members and approximately 650 pensioners.

The buy-out transaction was completed in January 2025, with the buy-in having taken place in July 2024.

Brookfield Wealth Solutions will operate under the Blumont Annuity UK brand.

The estimated retiree pension risk transfer cost is now 101.6% of a plan’s accumulated benefit obligation.

Hymans Robertson report expects 2025 to have a record-breaking number of transactions, across both small and larger schemes.

Growth in the purchase of bulk annuity contracts by small defined benefit (DB) pension schemes over the past couple of years has been accompanied by the emergence of templated transfer processes that speed the closure of deals, enabling insurers to execute more of them.

The increasing role – and influence – of ‘private equity’ firms in the US pension risk transfer (PRT) market in recent years has caught the attention of the media, regulators, and litigators.