The Merseyside Pension Fund, administered by Wirral Borough Council, has entered into a £200m bulk purchase annuity transaction with Aviva. The deal secures the benefits of c2,500 MPF members.
“We are delighted to have expanded our risk management strategy to achieve greater certainty of cost for the Fund’s biggest non – public sector constituent employer, Arriva Merseyside, whilst simultaneously improving governance and reducing risk across the employer base with Aviva,” said Peter Wallach, Director of Pensions at Wirral Borough Council.
“This was a complicated project, and we thank Mercer and Eversheds Sutherland for the clarity, expertise and tenacity they brought in assisting us through the process to ensure compliance with public procurement legislation, and to obtain competitive pricing along with good contractual terms. Merseyside Pension Fund has now become a Charter signatory, and we look forward to working collaboratively with Aviva, Mercer and other signatories, post-transaction.”
“We developed Aviva Clarity as a streamlined process to help a greater number of trustees by increasing standardisation. It’s pleasing that Aviva has now been recognised for tailoring its approach to adapt to the public sector procurement process. The Administering Authority made clear upfront the requirements to meet their ESG expectations and to be trusted to provide members’ benefits. This enabled us to efficiently deliver what they needed in order to proceed with Aviva,” said John Fothergill, Senior Deal Manager at Aviva.
Mercer were the lead advisers on the transaction with input from Paul Middleman as the Fund Actuary.
“We worked closely with the Authority and Eversheds Sutherland to create a customised broking and procurement process. This maximised insurer engagement and helped us secure the best deal for the bulk annuity transaction. With Mercer being a supporter of the Charter, it was particularly pleasing to help the Authority meet its financial strength and sustainability objectives,” said Andrew Pugh, Risk Transfer Principal at Mercer.
Legal advice was provided to Wirral Borough Council by Eversheds Sutherland.
“We are really pleased to have assisted the Administering Authority on the implementation of its risk management strategy. The Authority had clear objectives, and we used our combined expertise in procurement law, public sector pensions and risk transfer to help deliver them,” said Amanda Small, Partner at Eversheds Sutherland.
