Countrywide Farmers Retirement Benefits Scheme, Birmingham, England, insured £100 million ($128 million) in liabilities through a buy-in with Legal & General Assurance Society, said Hetal Kotecha, director at the plan's trustee firm, Independent Trustee Services.
In its first risk transfer deal the £100 million plan secured the benefits of 360 participants that are yet to retire and 712 retirees.
The plan's sponsor, Countrywide Farmers PLC, became insolvent in March 2018. The pension fund moved into the assessment period to be included in the £32 billion Pension Protection Fund, London — the lifeboat fund for plans of insolvent companies. It exited the assessment period in November.
Consultant Lane Clark & Peacock and law firms Gowling WLG and Osborne Clarke LLP advised the trustees. Clifford Chance provided legal advice to the insurer.
"We appointed LCP to provide specialist PPF+ advice to help us optimize outcomes for members of the Countrywide Farmers Scheme. With LCP's expertise in structuring PPF+ solutions, and competitive pricing and flexibility from L&G, we have secured benefits for members that are far higher than we could have hoped for when we started out on this journey," Mr. Kotecha said in a news release.
