Friends Provident completes £350m annuity buy-in with Norwich Union

The deal – understood to be the first of its kind for a FTSE 100 company – involves Norwich Union taking on approximately £350m of the FPPS’ liabilities.

Friends Provident Pension Scheme trustee chairman Mike Hampton said: "Scheme benefits and how they are paid are unaffected. For our pensioners, it’s business as usual, but this investment means that we have an asset that will pay out exactly what we need to meet our pensions in payments."

The scheme was advised by Towers Perrin.

Towers Perrin principal Mark Duke said: "The sophistication and scale of the arrangement, as well as the speed of execution make this a huge step forward for annuity business, and for the pensions industry as a whole."