The transaction covers liabilities for 574 of the Scheme’s pensioner members. Members of the Scheme, which has £700m total liabilities, accrued their pension benefits while employed with various publishing companies behind a range of popular magazines including Time.
The transaction is structured as a pensioner buy-in and follows a period during which Rothesay and the Scheme monitored the market to allow swift execution. With COVID-19 lockdown, the transaction was completed with all teams working remotely throughout the process, during a period of volatile markets.
In the process of choosing an appropriate insurer and negotiating terms, the Trustee of the Scheme was advised by Aon as settlement advisers, Mayer Brown, Willis Towers Watson and BlackRock. Rothesay Life was advised by DLA Piper.
Susan Andrews, Chairman of the Trustee of the IPC Media Pension Scheme and Director of Ross Trustees Services Limited:“We are delighted to have worked with Rothesay Life to secure benefits for our pension members. The transaction further strengthens the long-term certainty of the scheme, and forms an important part of our plan to meet pension obligations. It is a testament to the quality of our advisers that we could secure this transaction at a time of extreme uncertainty and remote working.”
Roisin O’Shea, Business Development at Rothesay Life, said: “The Trustee’s high degree of focus and preparation allowed us to secure this transaction in spite of the highly volatile market conditions. Providing the Trustee with price certainty as soon as their target had been met, which continued throughout execution, was especially important during the current climate as well as being able to complete the transaction quickly.”
Dominic Grimley, Risk Settlement adviser at Aon, said: “Aon was very pleased to help the Trustee execute a plan to reduce risk despite challenging market conditions. The focus on security and highquality service for policyholders means that Rothesay Life is an ideal partner for this scheme. Due to the timing of this transaction, the scheme, Rothesay Life, and all the advisers involved had to be pragramatic and flexible to achieve completion.”
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