Buyout firms looking to restructure

Punter Southall said that several firms were considering having separate buyout teams for small, medium and larger schemes to provide a more effective service.

Senior consultant Matthew Furniss said: "Several companies are considering restructuring their buyout teams.

"So there would be a specific team catering for small schemes, one for medium and one for the larger transactions. This would mean schemes could get the specific attention they need and the buyout market can remain open to schemes of all sizes."

Mercer agreed and said carrying out internal restructuring exercises was one way for buyout providers to maintain an effective service while still being able to cater for all areas of the market.

Principal David Ellis said: "Providers are going to have to restructure to cope with demand. It’s just another sign that the market is evolving all the time."

He added: "At the moment providers are finding themselves struggling to cope with demand, and having to turn down deals. As the market develops providers are going to have to provide different solutions for different sized schemes. We are seeing it already; the solutions available for a £1bn scheme are very different to those on the market for a £10m scheme."

Last week Paternoster said it would no longer provide buyout quotes for deals of under £20m in a website update.

It had previously provided quotes to schemes which were considering bulk annuity deals of as little as £1m.