The College of Law Pension & Assurance Scheme has completed a £28m buy-in with Aviva.
This is the fourth such deal for the scheme, and its third with the blue chip insurer.
This latest transaction covers those who have retired since 2012 and means that almost all of those drawing benefits from the scheme are covered by a bulk annuity deal.
The College of Law Pension & Assurance’s strategy is to achieve a full scheme buy-out so expect further transactions from its trustees.
Another part of this strategy is to improve the scheme’s efficiency. With this in mind, the trustees are transferring the payroll for the pensioners covered by this buy-in to Aviva.
College of Law Pension & Assurance Scheme trustee Alan Humphreys said this is another important step in reducing risk for his members.
Aviva’s managing director of bulk purchase annuity practice, Nick Johnson, added that the insurer is looking to build on its relationship with the scheme’s trustees.
“We worked closely with the trustees and their advisers so that we understand their specific requirements and could use Aviva’s expertise in this area to help them achieve great value,” he said.
The trustees were advised by actuary Hymans Robertson. The firm’s partner and head of risk transfer, James Mullins, said that the scheme’s strategy to insure their pensioners in groups over time is increasingly recognised as the optimal way of working to insure all benefits.
“We expect to see more pension schemes adopt this approach in future, with an increasing number of schemes now targeting buy-out as their final destination,” he added.
