The bulk annuity market is experiencing more activity than ever, with a record number of deals completed in 2025. But beyond the insurers, which companies are also spearheading insurance transactions? Pensions Expert investigates.
More than 350 bulk annuity transactions were completed in 2025, with transactions below £100m accounting for more than 85% of all deals completed in the first half of last year, according to LCP.
Just Group and Aviva led the way in insuring many of these small schemes, but there was activity across all 10 insurers operating in the DB pensions market.
Pensions Expert has analysed more than 300 bulk annuity deals from the past three and a half years to go beyond the insurance company data, identifying the advisers, law firms, and professional trustees most active in the bulk annuity market. Use the links below to jump ahead to the different sections of our analysis.
Analysing the announcements: Pensions Expert’s data set
Pensions Expert has analysed 317 bulk annuity announcements published since the start of 2023, ranging from sub-£10m micro deals to blockbuster transactions involving RSA Group, Boots, Ford, and Rolls-Royce. The total value of deals in our sample exceeds £110bn, with more than 814,000 DB members insured – although the actual total for members is likely much higher, given that this information is not always disclosed.
In addition to gathering data on value, members, and insurance company involvement, we have recorded the professional trustee firms, lead advisers, and law firms. Sample sizes vary by group due to variations in disclosures.
As several other studies have shown, small transactions are far more prevalent than they were just a few years ago, with many insurers and advisers now offering specialist services to help even the smallest DB schemes access the insurance market.
Consultants and deal brokers
LCP, Mercer, and Aon dominate the bulk annuity market from an advisory perspective. Since the start of 2023, LCP has been involved in at least 56 – 19% of the 293 announcements that mentioned a third-party consultant – with a total deal value of £34.4bn.
Aon, meanwhile, has been involved in 43 deals worth a combined £38.3bn, implying a tendency towards larger transactions. Mercer was involved in 45 deals worth a total of £25.6bn.
Other notable mentions from the Pensions Expert dataset include Isio, which was mentioned in 32 deals, with an additional 23 mentions for K3 Advisory, which Isio bought last year.
Gallagher, mentioned in just eight deals in our sample, has also been acquisitive in the past few years. It bought Buck Consultants (four deals) in 2023, Redington (four deals) in 2024, and most recently First Actuarial (12 deals) in 2025.
Shopping around for advice
Often, press releases show that a lead broker on a bulk annuity deal is an incumbent adviser – perhaps the trustee board’s investment consultant, actuarial adviser, covenant specialist, administrator, or a combination.
“We often see schemes undertake detailed analysis when selecting insurers, but the same level of scrutiny is not always applied to the advisers supporting the transaction.”
While the benefits of this are obvious – familiarity with the scheme and continuity of expertise, for example – Yona Chesner of Cartwright argues that some schemes could benefit from looking beyond their existing roster of advisers.
Chesner, Cartwright’s head of pensions investment, says: “Buy-in and buyout transactions are among the most significant financial decisions trustees will make. What we often see in the market is that schemes undertake detailed analysis when selecting insurers, but the same level of scrutiny is not always applied to the advisers supporting the transaction.”
While continuity “can feel like the safer option during a complex transaction”, Chesner emphasises that testing the wider market “allows for a thorough assessment of all available approaches, helping to achieve the best possible outcomes”.
Trustees can request information from potential providers without conducting a full tender process, Chesner adds, to get a “helpful perspective without slowing the process down”.
Law firms and legal advisers
Less often highlighted in bulk annuity transaction announcements are the law firms. Often, the trustee board, the insurer, and the employer will all have different legal advisers to oversee their various responsibilities.
Primarily, lawyers are there to ensure the scheme rules are complied with and benefits are not changed when the entity responsible for paying them changes.
CMS has led the pack in terms of bulk annuity deal involvement over the past three years, according to Pensions Expert analysis. Of 262 deal announcements to mention at least one law firm, CMS featured in 53 of them, or 20%. In total, it was involved in transactions worth a combined £27.1bn.
Close behind in terms of deal numbers are Eversheds Sutherland with 45 and Gowling WLG with 32. A further 12 firms are mentioned at least 10 times in our dataset, with 40 different companies mentioned in total, demonstrating the wide range of law firms serving DB pension schemes. Our numbers do not include the internal legal teams that support insurers.
Professional trustees
The professional trustee sector is growing in reach and influence, as demonstrated through several studies and the Department for Work and Pensions’ ongoing review of trusteeship and governance.
“The trustees play a big part in the decision as to which insurer to go with, what process to go down, and the ability to secure transactions.”
Ben Salmons, Vidett
It is no surprise, therefore, to see a number of firms involved in multiple bulk annuity transactions. Vidett leads the way by some margin, but Independent Governance Group, BESTrustees and Capital Cranfield have been involved in more than a dozen deals each.
Ben Salmons, client director at Vidett, says his firm’s size has contributed to its high level of activity in the bulk annuity market. According to LCP’s Sole Mates professional trustee survey, published in September, Vidett has more than 350 appointments, the third most in the industry.
In addition, Salmons says there has been a “conscious decision” to publicise the role of trustees in bulk annuity processes.
“The trustees play a big part in the decision as to which insurer to go with, what process to go down, and the ability to secure these transactions for members,” he explains.
“Previously, I don’t think trustees necessarily added their voice to these press releases. The announcements came from the insurers or advisers, who do a large part of the work. We’ve consciously tried to share that trustee [and] member angle.”
