Standard Life has entered the Irish pension risk transfer (PRT) market, with the insurer confirming its operational readiness to write bulk purchase annuity (BPA) business in the country.

Its offering will target both pensioner-only and deferred-member liabilities in the country’s defined benefit (DB) pension market.

The insurer said this would provide scheme trustees and advisers with the flexibility needed to execute full-scheme de-risking and final endgame strategies effectively.

Standard Life argued that while several insurers have operated in the Irish PRT market, the options available to schemes looking to transfer both pensioner-only and deferred-member liabilities were “more limited”.

It added that its entry brought further capacity and choice for trustees and sponsors thinking about full-scheme buyouts.

The strategy leverages Standard Life’s Irish market presence alongside the capital backing, pricing infrastructure, and risk management framework of the wider Standard Life Group.

“Ireland’s DB pension market is significant, but trustees and sponsoring employers have historically had a relatively small pool of insurers to choose from,” said Standard Life International head of BPA, Noelle Hawkshaw.

"We believe Standard Life has a valuable contribution to make in this market, and we’re ready to play our part in meeting growing demand for pension risk transfer solutions.

“By confirming full transaction readiness across both pensioner and deferred liabilities from day one, we’re applying Standard Life's deep retirement expertise to deliver essential market capacity, competitive pricing, and execution certainty.

“We look forward to partnering closely with trustees, sponsoring employers, and corporate consultants as they map out their de-risking journeys."

This article originally appeared in our sister publication European Pensions.

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