James Mullins
Total pension scheme buy-in and buyout volumes totalled £27.7bn in 2021, latest Hymans Robertson analysis reveals.
The consultant's half year risk transfer report, published today (17 June), showed there were at least 39 deals in excess of £200m last year, of which at least 14 were over £500m.
The top three providers during the year in terms of the value of deals written were Aviva, Standard Life and Legal & General, who wrote over 60% of the value of all transactions in 2021 and each completed more than £5bn of deals.
The consultant noted that there were also four significant longevity swaps conducted in 2021 - deals that totalled £15.3bn.
Hymans Robertson head of risk transfer James Mullins said: "The impact of the pandemic continued to influence in early 2021, however increased innovation in the longevity hedging space, led to a busy second half of the year with total transactions at the second highest ever level for a six-month period. With many of the insurers having been behind target by mid-2021, this created particularly strong competition toward the second half of the year.
"The rapid growth in demand for pension schemes to insure their risks, along with improved pension scheme funding levels, attractive insurer pricing and new alternative risk transfer options, means that we expect around £50bn a year of buy-ins and buyouts on average over the next ten years, in addition to longevity swaps. That means that, by the end of 2031, £1trn of pension scheme liabilities will have been insured, covering five million members' benefits."
