Multinational glass manufacturer Pilkington Group Ltd has completed a £230m insurance buy-in with the Pensions Insurance Corporation for its pension scheme.

It is PIC’s 13th transaction with the Pilkington Superannuation Scheme, which is ultimately sponsored by the Japanese company Nippon Street Glass Co Ltd as it is a subsidiary of the firm.

The lead advisor to the trustee on the transaction was Aon Hewitt.

Chairman of the trustee company Keith Greenfield said: “We are very pleased to have been able to insure a proportion of our pensioner liabilities through this buy-in.

“We had to move quickly to secure the buy-in in the light of current volatile markets. The PIC team were flexible and innovative in helping us complete this transaction and I want to thank both them and our advisers, Aon Hewitt, Hogan Lovells and Willis Towers Watson.”

PIC actuary Uzma Nazir added: “The trustee has been proactive in managing risk in the pension scheme for a number of years and we are proud to have been able to help it complete this significant step.

“There has been a tangible increase in interest from trustees in buy-ins since the Brexit referendum and we have completed a number of transactions over the past few weeks and expect more to follow. The scheme benefitted from the rise in the value of gilts and exchanged them for a buy-in policy.”

Aon Hewitt Risk Settlement Group partner John Baines said they were able to ensure a predictable and positive outcome for the scheme and capitalise on the attractive pricing currently available in the bulk annuity market, driven by market conditions following the EU referendum.

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