Hitachi U.K. Pension Scheme signs $360 million buy-in deal

Hitachi U.K. Pension Scheme, Berkshire, England, agreed to a £275 million ($360 million) buy-in deal with Legal & General Assurance Society.

The transaction covers the remaining uninsured participants and retirees since the pension fund completed its first buy-in with Scottish Widows in 2018, an L&G news release said. No liabilities remain to be covered, confirmed Jo Myerson, chairwoman of the pension fund's trustees, Ross Trustees.

The pension fund's assets could not immediately be learned.

The pension fund is sponsored by Hitachi Europe, a technology and infrastructure company. Details on the previous transaction were not available.

"Securing members' benefits is the ultimate objective for all trustees," Ms. Myerson said in the news release. "We worked with two strong insurers to meet this objective for the scheme and were able to take advantage of favorable market pricing due to effective decision-making achieved as a sole corporate trustee."

The latest deal completes the pension fund's "phased buy-in journey in just under three years — substantially ahead of the original target of 10 years," said Michael Walker, principal consultant at Aon, which advised the trustees, in the same release. "This acceleration has been possible due to strong asset performance, favorable insurance pricing, good preparation and nimble decision-making by both the trustee and the companies."

Pinsent Masons provided legal advice to the trustees, while Macfarlanes provided legal advise to L&G.