Hymans Robertson has advised the £200m Institute of Chartered Accountants Staff Pensions Fund on their second medically underwritten buy-in – a £30m transaction with Partnership, completed in November 2015.
The fund originally benefited from being one of the first pension schemes to complete a medically underwritten buy-in at the start of 2014 – and was undertaken exclusively with a provider. This second buy-in was undertaken using a tender process managed by MorganAsh and means it becomes one of the few UK pension schemes to have completed two medically underwritten buy-ins in a market that is only just in its third year.
Hymans Robertson, with Club Vita, were the lead advisers on both buy-ins and Eversheds was the legal adviser.
“The trustees are delighted to have taken another important step to materially reduce risk for their members. Hymans Robertson used their significant experience of the medically underwritten buy-in market to expertly guide us through this second buy-in, enabling us to insure a large proportion of our pensioner liabilities at a particularly attractive price – a great outcome for everyone associated with the fund.” – Andrew Evans, chair of FCA Ltd and trustee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Staff Pensions Fund.
“We’re delighted to have helped the trustees to complete another buy-in at a highly competitive price. Hymans Robertson has advised on a whole series of medically underwritten buy-ins in the fourth quarter of 2015 which means that these specialist transactions have now covered over £1.5 billion of liabilities, from a standing start in 2013. I expect the medically underwritten buy-in market to continue to present pension schemes with some excellent de-risking opportunities in 2016.” – James Mullins, partner and head of buy-out solutions at Hymans Robertson.
“We’re pleased that the trustees selected Just. We’re seeing a number of pension schemes return to medically underwritten bulk annuities having successfully completed their first transaction a year or two ago. Unlike traditional pricing, we use medical and lifestyle data to give us extra pricing confidence which underpins the bulk annuity premium we charge. In this latest transaction the trustees estimate it saved around 6% compared to traditional pricing.” – Costas Yiasoumi.