Prudential Retirement completes $1.7bn of longevity reinsurance
Prudential Retirement reinsured $1.7bn (£1.4bn) of UK pension scheme longevity risk in the first half of the year, it has revealed.
The reinsurer attributed the deals to adapting quickly to the Covid-19 environment with transactions closing virtually, while adding the UK buy-in and buyout market has been "vibrant".
It now sees a "robust pipeline" for longevity reinsurance throughout the second half of the year in relation to UK pension schemes, with the market ending the year "strong".
Vice-president and head of international transactions Rohit Mathur said: "While we are now in the midst of incredible uncertainty with the Coronavirus, such uncertain times have strengthened our conviction that pension de-risking is an all-weather solution for our institutional client base.
"For those pension schemes that had de-risked their asset portfolio and that were ready to transact before Covid-19, there was nothing holding them back from moving forward with their deals."
Despite the uncertainty around the impact on longevity assumptions, the UK's pension risk transfer market has continued to deliver, with around £7.9bn of buy-ins and buyouts agreed this year so far, alongside £12.6bn of longevity swaps.
In the last fortnight, UBS announced a £1.4bn longevity swap with Zurich and Canada Life, and the Willis Pension Scheme agreed a similar £1bn deal with Munich Re. Meanwhile, the IPC Media Pension Scheme completed a £290m buy-in and the Brandsby Agricultural Trading Association concluded a £13m buyout with Legal & General.
Prudential Retirement vice-president of longevity reinsurance Tom Cahill said: "The market is functioning very smoothly, and the smaller end of the market has been quite active. We are proud to have reinsured the risk of many individual schemes in the first half of 2020, including one standalone mid-sized transaction and well over a dozen smaller schemes through our flow reinsurance offerings."
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