L&G agrees £35m buyout with Edwards Wildman Palmer scheme

As at 31 December, the scheme had liabilities amounting to £25.6m on an accounting basis
As at 31 December, the scheme had liabilities amounting to £25.6m on an accounting basis
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Legal & General (L&G) has entered into an agreement with US law firm Locke Lord for a £35m buyout of UK-based Edward Wildman Palmer pension scheme.

The scheme - which had a net accounting surplus of £2.9m as at 31 December - was an existing L&G customer having previously partnered with L&G Investment Management's (LGIM) fiduciary management team.

It invested in LGIM's buyout funds, which enabled the scheme to achieve price certainty and a cost effective transition to buyout, becoming one of the first of those using this strategy to move to buyout. The trustees worked closely with the fiduciary management team to implement their buyout strategy.

At the end of last year the scheme had liabilities amounting to £25.6m on an accounting basis.

Edward Wildman Palmer merged into Locke Lord firm in 2015 and ahead of this buyout - which was effective from 1 April - the law firm put in an exceptional cash contribution of £3.9m.

L&G Retirement Institutional director of pension risk transfer Julian Hobday said: "This transaction is an example of our teams working seamlessly together to ensure that our customers can easily benefit from the full range of services we offer.

"Combining our buyout and fiduciary management propositions enabled us to leverage the breadth of L&G's capabilities to achieve the trustees' objectives and smoothly transition to buyout."

Trustee chairman Philip Bush added: "The trustees are pleased to have been able to provide our members with the long-term assurance the buyout with L&G provides.

"We look forward to continuing to work with L&G as they take on responsibility for paying our members' benefits."

In June, L&G conducted the largest ever buyout in the UK with the Rolls-Royce Pension Fund at £4.6bn. This came after the firm completed a £4.4bn buy-in with Airways Pension Scheme last year, which is also the largest ever buy-in completed in the UK.

This year, so far, across eight insurers, there has been more than £22.3bn of bulk annuity deals announced, as well as a £7bn longevity swap, meaning there has been around £29.3bn of pension risk transferred.

See also: The biggest buy-ins and buyouts announced since 2007

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