On the go:The West Ferry Printers Pension Scheme has completed a £120m buy-in transaction with Rothesay Life, securing the benefits for the remaining 263 members of the scheme.
The transaction follows an agreement made in December 2020 between scheme sponsor Reach and the trustee to fully fund the pension scheme as part of a business restructuring.
In 2008, the scheme entered into a £130m buy-in deal with Norwich Union (now Aviva Group), which covered the liabilities of 1,300 pensioners.
John Pannett, chair of the trustee for West Ferry Printers Pension Scheme, said: “We are delighted to have now secured the pension benefits for all members of our scheme, achieving our goal of providing members with long-term security.”
The transaction was led by LCP, acting for the scheme, with Simmons & Simmons providing legal advice. Willis Towers Watson advised Reach, while legal advice to Rothesay was provided by Travers Smith.
Laura Davies, partner at LCP, noted that to fit with the wider timescales, pricing for this deal “was fixed within four weeks of data being available — a particularly rapid timescale in such a busy market”.
She added: “There continues to be attractive pricing opportunities for long-dated liabilities. Many schemes are realising that they are closer to full insurance than they thought.
“We expect to see more schemes taking advantage of this in 2021.”
This article originally appeared on Mandatewire.com
