Three sub-£50m buy-ins have been announced this week, securing the benefits of 928 deferred and retired people with insurers Just, Canada Life and Aviva.
Just Group insured 267 members of the Rawle Gammon & Baker Ltd Pension & Assurance Scheme in a £23m buy-in.
The scheme is sponsored by commercial real estate company FTI Property, and was advised by K3 Advisory, Western Pension Solutions and In-Vest & Retire, all part of Vestey Holdings.
First Actuarial provided administration and actuarial services and Eversheds Sutherland was the legal adviser.
Thomas Crawshaw, senior actuarial consultant at K3 Advisory, said attractive insurance pricing meant the trustees were able to move quicker than initially planned to secure the buy-in.
Mark Foster, managing director at In-Vest & Retire, added: “This transaction highlights the importance of managing your investments in a ‘buyout aware’ way, then follow with proactive monitoring and preparation.
“The buy-in market has become increasingly busy over the last few years, with more schemes looking to de-risk and secure their members' benefits. By working closely with the trustees and through our strategic partnership with K3 Advisory, we were able to leverage favourable pricing. Together, we were able to secure an excellent outcome for the scheme members in a remarkably short timeframe.”
Canada Life completes £47.5m buy-in
Meanwhile, Canada Life has insured 562 members of an unnamed scheme in a buy-in transaction worth £47.5m.
This deal also moved quickly, according to Gallagher, the lead adviser. In a press release, the company said it was able to move from receiving four initial insurance quotes to deal completion in “just over five weeks”, fulfilling a key requirement from the scheme’s sponsoring employer.
Kevin Wesbroom, independent trustee at Capital Cranfield and chair of the scheme’s trustee board, said favourable market movements and a capital injection from the sponsor had helped the scheme reach insurance-level funding.
Mark van den Berghen, head of risk transfer at Gallagher, said: “This is a fantastic outcome, and proof of what can be achieved in our industry when we come together. This transaction shows that there continues to be the opportunity for schemes of all sizes to secure excellent pricing and meet trustees’ objectives.”
Grainger insures subsidiary’s scheme for £20m
Build-to-rent property company Grainger has secured a £20m buy-in with Aviva for a scheme linked to one of its subsidiaries.
The deal insures 49 deferred and 50 pensioner members of the BPT Retirement Benefits Scheme.
The trustees made use of Aviva’s streamlined insurance service for small schemes, Clarity, as well as SM&RT Insure, a similar service from the scheme’s adviser Broadstone.
Paul Donnelly, bulk purchase annuities deal manager at Aviva, highlighted that the “smooth and straightforward transaction” was aided by the BPT scheme being “extremely well prepared”.
