LONDON (1 June 2020) – Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, has advised the Unomedical Pension Plan on a £10 million buyout with Aviva. Aon worked closely with Capital Cranfield, the plan’s sole trustee, to complete the transaction.
The bulk annuity deal covers all 65 members of the Unomedical scheme, whose sponsor is the international medical products and technologies company ConvaTec Group. The transaction was completed using Aon’s Pathway streamlined solution for smaller pension schemes, which uses pre-negotiated legal contracts to ensure swift and efficient transactions for all parties involved.
Hugh Creasy, who led the Capital Cranfield sole trustee team, said:
“This is the best long-term solution for the members of the Unomedical Pension Plan, so I am very pleased that Aon's Pathway has enabled us to secure a transaction with Aviva, meeting our needs in a busy bulk annuity market – and at this most difficult of times.”
Jamie Cole, Defined Benefit Solutions Head of Origination at Aviva, said:
“We are committed to supporting schemes of all sizes achieve their goals and we’re delighted to have helped secure the benefits for the members of the Unomedical Pension Plan.
“The pre-negotiated contracts available through the Pathway streamlined solution delivered a very efficient process, allowing all parties to work closely to reduce the time taken to complete the transaction. Having a well-managed process, which can transact quickly, is essential in volatile market conditions and it plays an important role in helping to secure attractive pricing for smaller schemes.”
Dave Barratt, senior consultant at Aon, said:
“After the mega bulk annuity deals of 2019, this is both a reminder and evidence that the market is very much still open to smaller size deals in 2020 – despite all the challenges that this year is bringing. Our streamlined process and use of pre-negotiated contracts, together with nimble trustee decision making, shortened the transaction period and enabled us to move quickly at a time of volatile financial markets.”
About Pathway
Pathway is a low-cost, fixed-fee solution for schemes looking to purchase a smaller bulk annuity policy, typically under £100 million, which has been developed by Aon and Eversheds Sutherland. Pathway adopts a streamlined approach to bulk annuity broking, incorporating pre-agreed insurer bulk annuity contracts negotiated through the combined buying power of Aon and Eversheds Sutherland.
About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance.
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