On the go: Analytics company IHS Markit has entered into two bulk annuity deals with Legal & General, the insurer’s first global transaction.
The deals, one each in the US and the UK respectively, are worth £116.2m in total, covering 1,350 scheme members.
“This transaction is a key step in our plans to derisk the provision of pension benefits for our members in the UK,” said Stafford Napier, chair of trustees at IHS (Global) Ltd Pension and Life Assurance Scheme.
“We had been discussing the opportunities for derisking with our sponsoring employer for a number of years.
“The agreement with L&G delivers an excellent outcome by securing benefits with a major and well-established insurer,” he added.
L&G stated that these deals are evidence of a “continued appetite” for derisking strategies generally and pension risk transfer transactions in particular.
Greg Robertson, transaction specialist at Willis Towers Watson – which advised on both deals – concurred: “This transaction further demonstrates the value of innovation in the bulk annuity market.”
With demand for transactions still high, it is important that schemes are able to differentiate themselves, Mr Robertson said.
“One of those differentiators might now be a global approach to derisking,” he said. “We would anticipate this being one of the key levers that sponsors with UK and US obligations look to utilise going forwards.”
Laura Mason, chief executive of L&G’s institutional retirement business, said: “We are delighted to have been able to work with IHS Markit and the trustees to agree an exciting first for our team – a globally co-ordinated transaction to simultaneously insure pension liabilities in both the UK and the US.”
