Pensions - Articles - Bulk annuity business at highest levels since 2008

 According to research by pension consultants Barnett Waddingham, UK insurers completed bulk annuity transactions totalling nearly £3.9bn in Quarter 3 of 2013.

 With transactions worth over £1.9bn, Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) completed the greatest value of business in Quarter 3. This included the largest ever buyout in the UK – the £1.5bn transaction with the EMI Group Pension Fund. Rothesay Life had the second highest total with £1.2bn.

 The value of bulk annuity business won for 2013 is already well over £5.5bn. This is already the best year for the market since 2008 when £8.1bn of business was completed.

 Mark Paxton, Senior Bulk Annuity Consultant said: “The number of bulk annuity transactions completed is not particularly different to previous years but the amount of very large transactions has increased in 2013. Companies and trustees responsible for large historical pension schemes, such as the EMI Group Pension Fund, are seeing the benefit of removing the risk of these schemes by transferring them to an insurer.

 “The insurers have a large pipeline of quotations at the moment so we expect Quarter 4 to continue the positive trend.”