Rothesay completes Panasonic buy-out
October 21, 2014
Rothesay Life, one of the leading life insurers specialising in providing de-risking solutions to UK defined benefit pension schemes, is pleased to announce that it has completed a buyout of the Panasonic Systems Networks Pension and Life Assurance Scheme . Terms of the buy-out were not disclosed.
Policy highlights:
- Following completion of the transaction, members were issued with individual policies within 13 weeks
- A deferred premium structure offered the sponsoring employer certainty that no surplus would be trapped
Rothesay Life was selected following a competitive process run by the trustees of the scheme.
Rothesay Life’s Managing Director, Tom Pearce, said: “We have continued to see highprofile corporate interest in fully buying out pension liabilities and an internationally recognisable name like Panasonic illustrates this demand. Our pipeline is predominantly full of buy-outs at the moment and as the market conditions remain favourable we expect sponsor interest to continue.”
Sandra Connolly, Trustee Chair of Panasonic Pension Scheme, said: “Following a competitive selection process, we chose to transact with Rothesay Life because of their ability to structure a bespoke policy which met the needs of our sponsoring employer whilst providing for the best possible outcome for all our members. The Trustees are pleased to be able to offer our members 100% secure benefits with new policies in such a timely manner.”
Quantum Advisory Buy-out specialist Aled Edwards, said: “We have looked after the Panasonic Pension Scheme for around 10 years, and having reached the end of its course we were delighted to be able to secure quotations from a number of insurers and specifically obtain terms from Rothesay Life for a size where they haven’t previously participated.”
For further information please contact:
Temple Bar Advisory Limited +44 (0)20 7002 1080
Alex Child-Villiers or William Barker
About the Panasonic System Networks Company U.K. Limited Pension and Life Assurance Scheme
It was originally set up in April 1988 to provide defined benefits to its workforce based in Newport, South Wales. The Scheme grew over time to around 600 members. Through a series of risk reduction initiatives the Scheme achieved a size whereby the Company was more easily able to purchase the benefits outright.
About Rothesay Life
Rothesay Life was established in 2007 and has become one of the leading providers of regulated insurance solutions in the UK market for pensions de-risking, with over £15 billion of insurance contracts. In 2013, Rothesay Life wrote £1.6 billion of bulk annuity premiums following the £1.3 billion written in 2012. This strong growth has been achieved through the steady accumulation of pension scheme clients.
Existing Rothesay Life clients include the pension schemes and members associated with such names as RSA, British Airways, Rank, Uniq, General Motors, the MNOPF (Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund), InterContinental Hotels, Philips and GKN.
Rothesay Life is a secure long-term provider of pensions, focused on:
- a flexible and committed approach to execution;
- ongoing risk management to maintain balance sheet strength; and
- robust operational processes.
Rothesay Life is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
www.rothesaylife.co.uk
Key terms:
Bulk annuity – An insurance policy through which a pension scheme can secure the retirement income payable to a group of people in exchange for paying a premium to the insurer. In taking out the insurance policy, the pension scheme is purchasing protection against all risks associated with paying defined benefit pensions including longevity, inflation and investment performance risks.
Buy-in – A bulk annuity insurance policy held as an asset of a pension scheme, paying income to the pension scheme that is reference (only for the purposes of calculating the amount of income payable) to an agreed group of members and their benefits. The income from a buy-in benefits all members of the pension scheme, not just those against which it is referenced.
Buy-out – A bulk annuity policy that is structured to convert to a set of individual annuity policies (at the election of the pension scheme’s trustees) following the wind-up of the pension scheme. The individual annuity policies are written in the names of the members against which the bulk annuity policy had been referenced.
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