Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, has concluded a £100m bulk purchase annuity transaction covering members of two linked pension schemes sponsored by a provider of catering, onboard retail and food service logistics to the travel industry.
This full scheme buy-in, which completed in April, involved combining three pension scheme sections into one transaction, securing the benefits of around 2,100 members across the schemes.
“This transaction saw us work closely with the trustees, led by Vidett, and its advisers to help meet the specific requirements of schemes,” said Emma Haylock, BPA Transaction Manager at Standard Life.
“The collaborative approach by all ensured a smooth and efficient de-risking process, with all parties completing significant preparation work such that once the schemes’ assets were transaction-ready, the trustees were able to move quickly. This allowed us to complete the transaction swiftly and within a relatively short timeframe, securing the liabilities for all members,” Haylock added.
“Following our appointment in August 2023 and then working with the trustee board, we recognised that a buy-in would allow us to reduce the risks involved in running the Schemes and ensure long-term security for all members of the schemes,” said Mark Johnston, Chair of the trustee.
“The collaborative work between the trustees’ advisers and sponsoring company paid off with a clear request to insurers, resulting in a highly competitive quotation process with five insurers, allowing the trustees to select Standard Life to continue this collaborative theme and who will provide an excellent experience for our members,” added Johnston.
WTW acted as lead advisers to the trustees, while transaction legal advice was provided to the schemes by Baker McKenzie. Scheme actuary advice and administration support was provided by Gallagher.
“Pricing in the BPA market has remained attractive over recent months, despite record volumes of transactions in 2023. We are expecting levels of activity to increase over the remainder of 2024 as we support more schemes to transact. Aligning the three pension sections into one package ensured they were more attractive to insurers than each would have been individually. The highly competitive process allowed the trustee and company to test the different aspects of the insurers’ propositions and produced a great result for the schemes and their members,” said Jenny Neale, Director at WTW.
