Drinks maker A.G. Barr has completed a third pension scheme buy-in transaction worth £41m with Canada Life. The deal secures the future benefits of 300 pension scheme members – 160 deferred members and 140 pensioners.
This latest arrangement builds on an established collaboration between the scheme’s trustee, its adviser Hymans Robertson and the insurer Canada Life, which already covers approximately 40% of the Scheme’s liabilities through earlier 2016 and 2018 buy-ins.
“The established working relationship had a positive influence on securing a good outcome for the scheme and its members. We are proud that the trustee chose to work exclusively with Canada Life on this bulk purchase annuities transaction as a result of the high bar we set ourselves in our client relationship management. Through our earlier deals with the A.G. Barr Scheme, our team has invested time in understanding how the scheme operates and ‘bottled’ that knowledge. By monitoring market conditions and affordability with Canada Life, the Trustee board was able to move quickly at the right time to execute the buy-in. We are grateful for the trust and collaboration of the Trustee board and their advisers, which allowed us to deliver an outstanding outcome for the Scheme and its members,” said Shreyas Sridhar, Managing Director for Bulk Purchase Annuities at Canada Life.
Hymans Robertson acted as the pension scheme broker, actuarial adviser, administrator and de-risking investment adviser. The Trustee’s legal adviser was Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP. Canada Life was advised by in-house lawyers.
“We’re delighted to have completed this final buy-in for the Scheme with Canada Life. It marks a significant milestone working with the Trustee board on their journey to secure the long-term future of members’ benefits of the Scheme. The continuity of working with the same insurer across all three transactions has brought real efficiencies and confidence to the process, resulting in a great outcome for the Trustee and members of the Scheme,” said Mahad Farooqui, Risk Transfer Specialist at Hymans Robertson.
“It was a pleasure working with the Trustee on the third buy-in transaction for the Scheme. We have been legal advisers to the Scheme since 2009 and advised the Trustee on the previous two buy-ins with Canada Life. The Trustee has had a clear and well-developed strategy for the Scheme and completing this final buy-in transaction represents a significant outcome, providing greater security for the Scheme’s members,” said Richard Jones, Senior Associate at Shepherd and Wedderburn.