On the go: The Hitachi UK Pension Scheme has agreed a £275m buy-in transaction with Legal & General that covers the remaining deferred members and retirees, after a similar deal in 2018 with Scottish Widows.
Jo Myerson, trustee director at Ross Trustees and chair of the Hitachi trustee board, noted that “securing members’ benefits is the ultimate objective for all trustees”.
“We worked with two strong insurers to meet this objective for the scheme and were able to take advantage of favourable market pricing due to effective decision-making achieved as a sole corporate trustee,” she said.
Hitachi trustees were advised on the transaction by Aon, while legal advice was provided by Pinsent Masons. Macfarlanes provided legal advice to L&G.
Gavin Smith, pricing and execution director of UK pension risk transfer at L&G Retirement Institutional, noted that the buy-in with Hitachi demonstrates its ability “to insure pension schemes with a high proportion of deferred members, showing that pensions derisking isn’t just the preserve of mature pension schemes”.
Michael Walker, principal consultant at Aon, added that this transaction completes the scheme’s phased buy-in journey in just under three years — substantially ahead of the original target of 10 years.
“This acceleration has been possible due to strong asset performance, favourable insurance pricing, good preparation and nimble decision making by both the trustee and the companies,” Mr Walker said.
