Aon’s role on PIC’s £6.5 billion buy-in with RSA’s UK Pension Schemes
Pension Insurance Corporation plc (PIC), has concluded a buy-in with the Trustees of two schemes sponsored by RSA Group (RSA), the Sal Pension Scheme (SALPS) and the Royal Insurance Group Pension Scheme (RIGPS) (the ‘Schemes’), insuring in total c.£6.5 billion of liabilities and covering the pensions of 40,000 members.
Aon provided a multi-advisory role in the transaction, acting as:
- Lead transaction and actuarial adviser to the Trustee of SALPS
- Lead investment adviser for both SALPS and RIGPS
- Implementation project manager for both SALPS and RIGPS
Ray Cox, chairman of the Trustee for SALPS, said:
“We are extremely grateful for all the input provided by Aon on what has been a highly complex and challenging project. It is clear that we have benefited from their deep experience of large-scale transactions and their ability to collaborate with other advisers in helping to develop solutions, ensure a well-run project and enable the Trustee to proceed with the transaction with a high degree of confidence regarding the future security of members’ benefits. We were able to draw on the depth of resource and expertise within Aon to meet a variety of challenges and to deliver an excellent outcome for our scheme.”
Mike Edwards, partner at Aon, said:
“We have worked with the Trustee and a wide range of advisers to enable this transaction, which is unprecedented in size and complexity in the UK bulk annuity market. We are therefore extremely pleased to have supported the SAL Pension Scheme in its journey towards improved member security with an established insurance partner such as PIC. This was secured for the Trustee in extremely challenging timescales, but allowed the favourable pricing seen in the second half of 2022 to be captured. In doing this, we have advised not only on the more traditional aspects of a buy-in, but on the deployment of a series of bespoke solutions to resolve a variety of issues, in order that the Trustee can also begin to look forward to future risk settlement planning.”
Lucy Barron, partner at Aon and lead investment adviser, said:
“We have collaborated with many stakeholders, including the Schemes’ internal investment experts, to provide clarity and direction for addressing the many complex investment features of this transaction. We also focused on the most effective way of managing the schemes’ assets to navigate market volatility, reduce cost and investment risk and increase certainty throughout this transaction. This transaction will hopefully form a blueprint for other large schemes with complex assets looking to secure member benefits at the current time.”
Simon Head, senior partner at Aon and scheme actuary to SALPS, said:
“We are extremely pleased to support the Scheme in its journey towards improved member security with an established insurance partner such as PIC. The Trustee has ultimately managed to achieve the objectives we agreed with them at outset by working cooperatively with the scheme’s sponsor to achieve increased security for members of the Scheme, whilst ensuring that their benefits are protected under the terms of this transaction.”
Aon Solutions UK Limited - a company registered in England and Wales under registration number 4396810 with its registered office at The Aon Centre, The Leadenhall Building, 122 Leadenhall Street, London EC3V 4AN.