Rothesay Life has insured £123m of legacy pension scheme liabilities for GKN, the FTSE100 engineering firm. The liabilities were insured through a pensioner buy-in.
Transaction highlights:
- The transaction is with the Trustee of the GKN Group Pension Scheme.
- The policy is being held as an investment by the Trustee.
- Administration and payment of members’ benefits are unaffected by this transaction.
The transaction is the first between Rothesay Life and the Trustee of the GKN Group Pension Scheme. It follows the recently announced agreement to acquire MetLife’s £3bn UK bulk annuity portfolio, subject to regulatory approval, and the investment by Rothesay Life’s new shareholders,Blackstone, GIC and MassMutual.
Rothesay Life CEO, Addy Loudiadis, said: “It is our first buy-in of 2014, the first with our new shareholders and our first with GKN, a company with a rich heritage and one of the few original FT30 still in the FTSE100 today.
She continued: “We had a good year in 2013 and expect the de-risking of defined benefit pension schemes to remain high on the corporate agenda in 2014. Buy-ins and buy-outs are core to our growth strategy and we believe Rothesay Life is well placed to benefit from the current demand.”
Rufus Ogilvie Smals, Chairman of the Trustee of the GKN Group Pension Scheme, commented: “The Trustee Directors explored an insurance solution as part of their de-risking strategy and Rothesay Life was selected following a competitive process. This transaction represents an important step towards de-risking the Scheme’s pensioner liabilities.”
Dominic Grimley, Aon Hewitt, said: “This transaction is a key step on the de-risking journey. We were delighted to arrange insurance which is tailored to the needs of the Trustee of the GKN Group Pension Scheme and guide them through the process of securing their members’ benefits.”
|
