Browsing: Longevity and Mortality Risk Transfer
Longevity and Mortality Investor’s coverage of the longevity and mortality risk transfer market, including pension risk transfer, longevity swaps and other de-risking activities
Finalised in September 2025, the transaction provides long-term security for the benefits of nearly 10,000 members and secures all remaining uninsured defined benefits in the plan.
The aggregate surplus of the 4,969 schemes in the Pension Protection Fund’s 7800 Index increased by £16.2bn through October 2025, rising to £271.3bn in surplus, and the funding ratio rose by 0.7 percentage points to 129.8% and the number of schemes in surplus rose to 3,844, representing more than three-quarters (77.4%) of all schemes in the universe.
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.
The buy-in, completed in June 2025, insures the benefits of all 30 members – 15 deferred and 15 pensioners.
The transactions, completed in July 2025, secure the benefits of approximately 980 members across the two schemes.
The deal secures the future benefits of 300 pension scheme members – 160 deferred members and 140 pensioners.
The Premdor Crosby Pension Plan has completed a £16m bulk purchase annuity buy-in with Royal London. This buy-in, which covers 181 members, is the first that Royal London has completed with BESTrustees as Chair of Trustees.
Pension schemes sponsored by Ford Motor Company Limited, including the Ford Hourly Paid Contributory Pension Fund and the Ford Salaried Contributory Pension Fund, have completed bulk purchase annuity buy-ins with Legal & General worth a total of £4.6bn.
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.
New research from Standard Life suggests that the current push for bulk purchase annuity buy-ins in the UK pension risk transfer market looks set to continue as 40% of defined benefit trustees that are targeting BPA as their end-game strategy expect to approach an insurer in the next 12 months.