Risk Reduction
Merrill Lynch scheme completes £400m buy-in with Scottish Widows
The Bank of America Merrill Lynch UK Pension Plan has insured benefits for 915 pensioner members in a £400m buy-in with Scottish Widows.
PMI launches essay competition
The Pensions Management Institute (PMI) has launched its inaugural student essay competition.
Scottish Widows completes buy-ins totalling £830m with Peugeot and QinetiQ
Scottish Widows has completed two bulk annuity transactions totalling £830m, insuring benefits for the Peugeot Advanced Pension Plan and the QinetiQ Pension Scheme.
Some sponsors face a nasty Brexit surprise from their DB schemes
Marc Hommel says some employers are insufficiently prepared to engage their trustees on how they intend to manage liquidity and other adverse aspects resulting from Brexit
A bulk annuity market innovation for small schemes
The challenges for small pension funds to buy out their liabilities are well-known. A solution has emerged and is set to become popular across the DB universe, writes Stephanie Baxter
PIC invests £40m in Northamptonshire housing
Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has entered into a £40m agreement with Greatwell Homes to support the development of 600 affordable homes in Northamptonshire.
Exclusive: Rothesay Life completes £110m buyout with Laird scheme
The Laird Pension Scheme has completed a £110m buyout with Rothesay Life, insuring benefits for 940 members.
Dresdner Kleinwort Pension Plan agrees £1.2bn buy-in; Deal covers hybrid benefits
The trustees of the Dresdner Kleinwort Pension Plan have completed a full £1.2bn buy-in with Pension Insurance Corporation - covering the scheme's £900m final salary section as well as a £300m money purchase section.
FTSE 100 buyouts 'could boom to £300bn' over next decade
The volume of insured buyouts from FTSE 100 defined benefit (DB) schemes could increase from £5bn to £300bn by 2029, according to Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP).
Howden scheme agrees £230m buy-in with L&G
The Howden Group Pension Plan has completed a full pensioner buy-in with Legal & General (L&G), insuring benefits for around 2,000 members.
Could surety bonds provide greater scheme security?
A rarely-used insurance product guarantees the payment of DRCs in the worst-case scenario. James Phillips asks if it is appropriate for DB schemes
PIC posts £7.1bn of bulk annuity deals in 2018 taking nearly a third of the market
Pension Insurance Corporation's (PIC) bulk annuity business transacted £7.1bn of buy-ins and buyouts over the course of 2018, its annual results reveal.
Phoenix delivers £800m of bulk annuities in first year in market
Phoenix Group transacted £800m of bulk annuities in 2018, its first year in the market since completing a deal with its own scheme two years ago.
National Express scheme completes full buy-in with Rothesay Life
The National Express UK Pension Scheme has completed a full buy-in with Rothesay Life, insuring benefits for all members.
Interest rate LDI increases 9% but inflation hedging drops
The amount of hedging against interest rate risk rose to £31.7bn in the fourth quarter of last year, according to BMO Global Asset Management.
Innovation in LGPS funding
Stephanie Baxter says some local councils' attempts to find new ways to make savings are welcome but must have strong safeguards
Pearson scheme completes £500m buy-in with L&G
The Pearson Pension Plan has entered into a £500m pensioner buy-in with Legal & General (L&G) in the insurer's first deal of 2019.
Croydon sets up asset-backed funding to reduce pension contributions
An innovative funding structure has been agreed for Croydon Pension Fund. However, there are some concerns about the arrangement. Stephanie Baxter reports
Five action points for pension trustees as Brexit looms
Jonathon Land says 'wait and see' is no longer an option and trustees should be proactive to ensure they are on a robust footing ahead of 29 March
Just transacts £1.3bn of bulk annuities in 2018 after final buy-in with Pfizer
Just Group has completed a £158m pensioner buy-in with the Wyeth Group Pension and Life Assurance Scheme, bringing its total bulk annuity sales for 2018 to £1.3bn.
Let's make discretionary increases fashionable again
Hilary Salt asks if it is legitimate for trustees who have a fiduciary duty to members to assume that surplus should only be spent on locking in to lower returns
American bulk annuity boom could squeeze UK market
Buy-in and buyout pricing for British pension schemes could hike if the US or Canadian bulk annuity markets boom, Legal and General (L&G) has predicted.
Pension consolidator vehicles: an insurer's perspective
In the first of a two-part series, Russell Lee (left) and Tom MacAulay (right) from Legal & General's Pension Risk Transfer business look at pension consolidation vehicles from different angles and provide an insurer's perspective
Insolvency Service issues scam warning after £202m of pension savings 'misused'
Savers are being warned by the Insolvency Service to guard their pension pots from investment scammers and negligent trustees as it winds up 24 companies.
