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Members secured

25,000 (44% of benefits)

Value

£3bn

Type

Synthetic buy-in & longevity swaps

Impact

  • Innovative structure allowed the Scheme to take advantage of market dislocation and volatility
  • Transactions avoided immediate additional funding requirements on the corporate sponsor

Highlights

  • Innovative structure
    The transaction structure removed all longevity, inflation and interest rate risk associated with 20% of the pension benefits in exchange for a series of pre-determined regular premium payments. Regular premium payments are in line with the cash flows on specific index-linked gilts that the Trustees invested in to take advantage of the then-existing dislocation in the gilt market.
  • Execution occurred only when it could be achieved without requiring an additional contribution from the corporate sponsor
    Dislocation and volatility in the index-linked gilt markets provided an opportunity to de-risk using Rothesay’s innovative structure.
  • Repeat transaction to increase the proportion of benefits covered
    A further transaction in December 2011 covered a further 20% using a pure longevity swap arrangement. A subsequent transaction with Rothesay in December 2013 increased the insurance of pension payments from 40% to 44%.