The Selecta UK Pension Plan has completed a £250m full scheme buy-in with Legal & General (L&G), covering liabilities for around 1,000 deferred members and around 1,000 pensioner members.

The buy-in is expected to “significantly reduce” future pension funding risk from the point of view of the scheme sponsor, Selecta UK, in turn providing more business certainty for stakeholders.

Hymans Robertson acted as the lead transaction adviser, whilst legal advice was provided to the trustee by Pinsent Masons, and to L&G by Macfarlanes. The sponsor was advised by PWC.

Commenting on the deal, professional corporate sole trustee to the scheme, Independent Trustee Services lead directors, Dinesh Visavadia and Nita Tinn, said: “It is pleasing to reach this point in the plan’s journey and secure members’ benefits with this buy-in.

“The trustee together with their advisers, Hymans Robertson and Pinsent Masons, worked with the company on this long journey carefully de-risking to improve the security of the plan benefits.

“Hymans Robertson were diligent in identifying a market opportunity which helped us move quickly to take advantage of it through a well-run and robust process, securing excellent terms with Legal & General and significantly improving security for our members.”

Hymans Robertson senior risk transfer specialist and lead adviser on the transaction, Kieran Mistry, commented: “We are very pleased to have helped the trustee secure this buy-in, removing the majority of the plan’s risks.

"As a professional corporate sole trustee, we were able to work swiftly and nimbly with ITS to take advantage of a short-term period of relative quiet in the buy-in market over the first half of 2021. The result was a highly competitive broking process, with Legal & General presenting a compelling and tailored proposition.”

Legal & General Retirement Institutional director of pension risk transfer, Celia Monteiro, added: “Working with pension schemes at all stages of their de-risking journey is fundamental to what we do at Legal & General and we are delighted that we have been chosen as the plan’s buy-in partner given their long-standing relationship with Legal & General Investment Management.

"We look forward to continuing to work with the Selecta UK Pension Plan as it continues its de-risking journey.”

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