The Ultra Electronics Pension Scheme, sponsored by Ultra Electronics Limited, a UK-based defence and security company has completed a £250m full scheme bulk purchase annuity buy-in with Just Group.
Completed in June 2025, the transaction secures the benefits of over 1,000 pensioners and dependants as well as over 750 deferred members. The trustee, company and advisors worked closely with Just to secure the buy-in and meet their agreed objectives, significantly reducing risk exposure for the Scheme and thereby protecting members’ benefits.
“Security and service for our members has always been paramount and we are delighted to have secured our members’ pensions through a full buy-in with the Just Group. Just reassured the Trustee through every stage of a rigorous process with their ability to listen to and accommodate our particular requirements. It was testament to our preparatory work, and to the quality of the advice we received from LCP, Eversheds and XPS, that we found ourselves in a very competitively fought process, resulting in a great outcome for the Company as well as our members,” said Natalie Winterfrost, Trustee Director at Law Debenture and Chair of the Trustee.
“We’re pleased to secure the pensions of over 1,750 Scheme members who, through our member support package, will continue to enjoy the benefits of the Pension Increase Exchange option and will have access to regulated financial advice. We enjoyed working closely with the Trustee and their advisers to deliver a bespoke asset lock solution that provided maximum certainty on affordability. This buy-in shows that the pension de-risking market continues to be dynamic and effective, supporting schemes of all sizes and with a variety of requirements,” said Geraint Jones, Senior Business Development Manager at Just Group.
LCP acted as the lead risk transfer advisor for the Scheme with Eversheds providing legal advice to the Trustee and XPS acting as scheme actuary. Just Group received legal advice from CMS.
“It has been an honour to work with the Trustee and Company to structure and deliver this significant milestone for the benefit of members. Strong preparation was key to this transaction. Developing end-to-end solutions on all specifics in advance, combined with the right positioning of the Scheme’s complexities and clear asks of the insurers provided market confidence – this secured very high insurer engagement and ultimately attractive pricing and terms,” said Ricky Patel, Partner at LCP.
We’re pleased that the transaction achieved the Trustee’s objectives in all key areas, including completeness of risk transfer, dovetailing the sale of illiquid assets and achieving a “perfect” asset-lock to lock-in the economics which avoided asset trading and costs prior to execution.”
