This buy-in, which covers over 4,000 of the Fund’s pensioner members, follows several buy-ins completed by the Fund since March 2014. It also sees Scottish Widows’ added to the Trustee’s insurer panel to be considered for further bulk annuity transactions as it continues its de-risking strategy.
The successful completion of the transaction was a result of Scottish Widows and the Trustee working together over several months, developing and executing a well-defined strategy and transaction timetable.
Emma Watkins, Director of Bulk Annuities at Scottish Widows, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by the Trustee of the ICI Pension Fund on this significant buy-in arrangement and look forward to becoming a long term de-risking partner for them. We have worked closely with the Trustee and their advisers to develop a bespoke solution over a number of months and this transaction demonstrates Scottish Widows’ ability to provide innovative de-risking solutions to large pension schemes.”
Jeff Sayers, Managing Director of Bulk Annuities and Investment Strategy at Scottish Widows, said: “We are delighted to announce our largest external bulk annuity transaction to date. We have now completed four pensioner buy-in arrangements, ranging from £50m to £630m, with a total of more than £1.25 billion. We have built a strong and experienced capability in this market and are delighted that trustees, employers and their advisers are choosing Scottish Widows as their long-term partner. ”
Heath Mottram, CEO of the ICI Pension Fund, said “This buy-in is the result of significant work by the Trustee over the last five months, and further builds on the Fund’s strong de-
risking foundations. The Trustee is delighted to add Scottish Widows to its de-risking panel, further enabling it to continue to improve the security of members’ benefits.”
Clive Wellsteed, Partner at LCP, Lead adviser, said: “This £630m buy-in with Scottish Widows is the Trustee’s eighth transaction since it introduced buy-ins into its de-risking strategy in 2013. The ICI Fund now has innovative umbrella contracts with strong contractual terms in place with all three insurers on its de-risking panel, allowing the Trustee to react to favourable opportunities and build on the £6.3bn of liabilities insured to date. The Scottish Widows team demonstrated their collective experience throughout the project and this was important in reaching the requirements for inclusion on the Trustee’s panel.”
As with all previous buy-in transactions implemented by the Fund the Trustee was advised by LCP and Allen & Overy.
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