The Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society 1974 Pension and Life Assurance Scheme, sponsored by Combat Stress, a UK-based veterans’ mental health charity, has completed a c.£4m bulk purchase annuity buy-in with Just Group.
The transaction secures the benefits of all 39 members, comprising 17 pensioners and 22 deferred members, and completed on 29 May 2026.
“My colleagues and I are pleased to have been able to work with Just to reach a satisfactory conclusion; one which secures the benefits on a long-term basis for all Combat Stress’s pensioners and deferred members. It’s been a rewarding experience, with Just’s flexibility enabling the buy-in to be concluded with the minimum of fuss. I’m particularly grateful to my trustee colleagues for their support, detailed analysis, time and attention to detail which has been an enormous help in completing the buy-in. Also, a word of thanks to the teams at Barnett Waddingham, True Potential Wealth Management and Burges Salmon for their support and advice throughout the process,” said Robert Bieber, Trustee of the scheme.
“We’re delighted to have supported the trustees and Combat Stress in securing members’ benefits. This was a well-prepared scheme that made excellent use of Beacon to track pricing and move quickly when the opportunity arose. It’s particularly rewarding to complete a transaction that supports an organisation delivering such important work for veterans across the UK,” added Olivia Padfield, Business Development Manager at Just.
Barnett Waddingham acted as risk transfer adviser, scheme actuary and administrator to the trustees. Legal advice was provided by Burges Salmon and investment advice was provided by First Actuarial. Just received in-house legal counsel.
“Having worked with the trustees of the scheme for a number of years, it was extremely rewarding to help secure members’ benefits in full. We were particularly pleased to have worked with Just to insure some non-standard benefits and to complete the transaction within just three weeks of receiving a guaranteed quotation. This outcome reflects the strong collaboration between all parties and a shared commitment to achieving the best possible result for members,” said Andy Smith, Risk Transfer Adviser at Barnett Waddingham.
