Author: Mark McCord
Efforts to find treatments that slow or prevent Alzheimer’s disease are making good progress, but the complexities of tackling the illness are making it difficult to estimate what impact they will have on future mortality rates. A new report by reinsurer RGA on the current state of play in Alzheimer’s research stated that a combination of disease-modifying therapies and better understanding of the causes and progression of Alzheimer’s “point to a future that is cautiously but meaningfully brighter”. Nevertheless, its authors said that the likelihood of these developments substantially improving life expectancy was low because other more deadly diseases are still extant. “Most experts agree that disease-modifying treatments for…
WTW’s De-Risking Report 2026 suggests that longevity swaps are becoming increasingly interesting to UK defined benefit pension schemes and forecasts £20bn worth of transactions this year.
Gilts-based investment approach is feeding through to the prices offered to pension schemes entering BPA transactions by insurers.
The latest data on excess mortality in England, published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, shows that there were significantly fewer deaths among the older cohorts and the working-age population as well.
The past 12 months have seen significant developments that are likely to shape mortality models among defined benefit pension scheme managers and sponsors alike, and possibly even have an impact on the pricing of de-risking deals.
The past 12 months have seen significant developments that are likely to shape mortality models among defined benefit pensions scheme managers and sponsors alike, and possibly even have an impact on the pricing of de-risking deals.
TPT Retirement Solutions’ plan to launch a run-on superfund has been welcomed by industry figures for offering a potentially lucrative alternative for defined benefit pension schemes other than a buy-in/buy-out pension risk transfer solution.
Reasons abound as to why the inclusion of illiquid assets in the portfolios of defined benefit pension schemes can be a hindrance to the process of completing a bulk purchase annuity buy-in or buy-out in the UK but insurer appetite to capitalise on the booming pension risk transfer market means that any resistance is not as pronounced as it was previously.
A year after the UK Pensions Regulator’s code of practice on funding for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes was launched, the UK’s pension risk transfer market remains buoyant, suggesting the guidance has had little material effect on deals.
Traditionally, PRT transactions in the US are of the buy-out variety, a trend driven by the economics of no longer having to administer participants after the deal closes and the expenses associated with it. However, there is evidence to suggest that the buy-in variety is growing in popularity.