Rothesay Life completes £700m of bulk annuity deals in H1
Rothesay Life completed around £700m of bulk annuity transactions in the first half of 2019, according to its latest trading update.
The insurer has so far publically announced two deals this year - the £110m buyout with the Laird Pension Scheme in April, and a buy-in with the Teachers Assurance Group Pension Scheme for an undisclosed amount in February. The details of another two transactions have not been revealed.
Rothesay Life said its focus in H1 has been on the deployment of the assets received as part of its reinsurance of Prudential's £12bn annuity portfolio, and capitalising on the opportunities in the bulk annuity market.
In a stock exchange announcement, it said: "We have now successfully deployed all of the assets received from the Prudential transaction in a manner consistent with our original underwriting and our long-term investment strategy."
The update further noted that the group had assets under management of £37.7bn as at 30 June, and a first half unaudited pre-tax accounting profit of £403m.
This year has already seen around £13.7bn of bulk annuity transactions announced, PP analysis has found, with details of 12 deals disclosed, including the record-breaking £4.6bn partial buyout between the Rolls-Royce UK Pension Fund and Legal and General last month.
In a report published at the end of last month, Lane Clark and Peacock predicted that bulk annuity transactions will top £15bn in H1, more than double 2018 H1 volumes.
Last year saw a record volume of bulk annuity deals, with £24.2bn of transactions announced. These included the £4.4bn Airways Pension Scheme buy-in with L&G, which was, at the time, the UK's biggest bulk annuity deal.
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