Aviation scheme agrees to buy-in; brokers finalise buyout with Aviva

Civil Aviation scheme completes £110m buy-in

The CAA section of the Civil Aviation Authority Pension Scheme has completed a circa £110m buy-in transaction with Legal & General. The deal was concluded under an umbrella contract, so that future transactions can be completed easily. Gavin Smith, UK head of pricing and execution at Legal & General Retirement Institutional, commented: “I am pleased we were able to secure the pension benefits for a long-standing L&G client.” L&G Investment Management has managed various assets for the scheme for more than 30 years. Aon advised the trustee and Reed Smith provided legal advice. L&G received legal advice from CMS. 

Pearl Group seals £731m buy-in with Phoenix Life

The £2.9bn Pearl Group Staff Pension Scheme, one of Phoenix Group’s main pension schemes, has completed a £731m buy-in with the group’s life assurance company Phoenix Life. The scheme has also entered into a commitment agreement for further buy-ins to be completed by 2023. The scheme’s first buy-in was completed in November 2020 and the contract covers 25 per cent of the scheme’s pensioner and deferred member liabilities. It was one of seven bulk annuities that Phoenix Life executed during 2020. This commitment agreement, which replaces a previous deal made in 2012, ensures that gilt deficit recovery contributions and contingent contributions will be paid by the employer in the event that the buy-in schedule is not met.

Insurance broker agrees £5m buyout with Aviva

The Sydney Packett & Sons Pension Scheme has completed a £5m buyout transaction with Aviva Group. The deal secures the benefits for all eight members of the scheme. K3 Advisory advised on the deal, and Western Pension Solutions, Shoosmiths, Isio and gcTrustees also provided advice and support on the transaction. Marshall Sugden, managing director of Sydney Packett & Sons, commented that the different partners involved worked collaboratively to “ensure that we achieve the best results for the company, the scheme and, most importantly, the members”. Jamie Cole, head of bulk purchase annuity origination at Aviva, said: “This transaction demonstrates that smaller, well-prepared schemes can access attractive pricing when supported by an efficient process such as this one.” Thomas Crawshaw, senior actuarial consultant and transaction lead at K3 Advisory, also noted that small schemes continue to be very attractive to the insurance market if they are well prepared. “What this deal shows is that no scheme is too small,” he said.

These articles originally appeared on Mandatewire.com