Total U.K. Pension Plan, London, completed a £1.6 billion ($2.7 billion) buy-in with Pension Insurance Corporation, said Elizabeth Sumner, head of pensions operations for the pension fund.
The pension fund, which has about £2.5 billion of assets according to the latest National Association of Pension Funds yearbook, has total liabilities of £2.6 billion. “This was a complex transaction in which we sought to bring certainty to a large portion of our liabilities,” said Iain McCombie, chairman of trustees for Total U.K. Pension Plan, in news release from PIC. “Working closely with our advisers at (Lane Clark & Peacock) and Mayer Brown and the team at PIC, we are delighted to have been able to conclude this transaction on favorable terms and within a tight timetable.”
The deal marks the second-largest buy-in in the U.K. to date behind the £3.6 billion ICI Pension Fund, London, buy-in in March, according to Emma Watkins, partner at LCP.
“This is a landmark transaction for PIC and is significant for the bulk annuity sector, pushing pension liabilities insured already this year past £5 billion,” said David Collinson, co-head of business origination at PIC, in the statement.
