British Heart Foundation’s defined benefit pension scheme has secured a £37m buy-in with Royal London.
The deal insured the benefits of 118 pensioners and 85 deferred members, according to consultancy group Broadstone, which advised on the transaction.
It took just 14 working days from Royal London being given exclusivity on the deal to the transaction being completed, in part due to existing relationships between the pension scheme, the charity and Royal London Asset Management.
Roshan Teeluck, chair of trustees, said: “Above all, this positive news improves the security of providing benefits payable to the members of the scheme and their dependants. We are therefore incredibly pleased to have achieved this important milestone with Royal London, with excellent support from our advisers and British Heart Foundation.”
Bob Jenkinson, deal lead at Broadstone, added: “Broadstone was first appointed to provide services to the scheme over 20 years ago, so we are incredibly proud to have helped the scheme and charity reach such a key milestone. Completing the transaction in only 14 days is an amazing achievement and demonstrates our ability to deliver against both long-term and short-term objectives.”
Law firms seal buy-ins with Aviva
Separately, last week, two pension schemes sponsored by law firm Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang announced a joint £112m buy-in with Aviva covering more than 1,000 members.
The Cameron McKenna Final Salary Pension Scheme and the NN Pension Scheme are both overseen by Independent Governance Group (IGG) in a sole trustee arrangement. Cartwright, K3 Advisory and Isio provided advice on the deal.
IGG’s Nigel Moore said: “As professional corporate sole trustee, we are delighted to have concluded this bulk annuity buy-in with Aviva, improving member benefit security with a long-established and financially secure insurer. We would like to thank Cartwright, K3 Advisory, Schroders, Isio and the CMS Pensions Team for their support, collaboration and hard work over the years in helping to make this buy-in possible.”
Andrew Richards, chief finance officer of Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, added: “We agreed a journey with the trustees and advisers over 10 years ago, to get a significantly de-risked position by 2028. We are delighted to achieve this outcome ahead of schedule, but also as part of a very stable journey over a long period. This outcome now secures our member benefits with a long-established insurer.”
In another separate transaction, law firm DAC Beachcroft’s defined benefit pension scheme has also secured a buy-in with Aviva worth £11m.
It insures the benefits of 15 deferred members and 25 pensioners. The deal took less than six months to complete once the trustees and sponsor had agreed to pursue an insurance transaction.
