Barnett Waddingham and MetLife Assurance have clubbed together to offer buy-out arrangements for small-sized pension schemes.

The actuary and consulting firm and the retirement services provider have designed the "Smaller Scheme Buyout Service" to streamline the process for small schemes with liabilities as low as £5million.

The partnership will speed up the process, and will aim to limit costs. It offers 'timely quotations', which Barnett Waddingham will produce based on MetLife's pricing on a timely basis, in a matter of days as opposed to the usual weeks. The service also offers an 'expedited process with a competitive buy-out price', allowing pension schemes that are looking to secure smaller liabilities to take advantage of an expedited process, greater certainty and access to a competitive offer.

Paul Jayson, partner at Barnett Waddingham, said: "While 2008 saw an upsurge in the number and size of pension scheme buy-outs, this was not the case at the smaller end of the market. We are delighted to have worked with MetLife Assurance Limited to offer a buy-out service for smaller schemes, which have often struggled to get quotes.
Moreover, with less competition at this end of the market, pricing has generally not been as attractive as that seen on some of the larger deals. Our new service aims to address this."

Dan DeKeizer, chief executive at MetLife, added that the service aims to bring smaller schemes into line with their larger counterparts in terms of access to the insurance market. "We are pleased to be able to offer trustees and plan sponsors a way to secure guaranteed lifetime annuity benefits for their scheme members."

- Pensions Age March 2009

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