Building society retirement scheme secures £70m buy-in

The West Bromwich Building Society Staff Retirement Scheme has secured a £70m buy-in transaction with Canada Life.

The move will secure the benefits of all uninsured scheme members, covering around 490 deferred members and 400 pensioner members.

Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP) acted as risk transfer adviser to the Trustee, with legal advice provided by Gowling WLG. Canada Life was advised by its in-house legal team.

Shreyas Sridhar, business development director, bulk purchase annuities at Canada Life said: “In a highly competitive market, which continues to experience significant growth, we are delighted that the Trustee has chosen to secure its members’ benefits with Canada Life. The transaction builds on the renewed momentum in our business, with a particular focus on insuring deferred members.

“We recognised the importance of offering a tailored solution to the Trustee that met the needs of the pension scheme, underpinned by Canada Life’s robust financial strength and resilience. We are grateful to the Trustee and its advisers for their collaboration in delivering an outstanding outcome for the Scheme’s members.”

Glyn Smith, Chair of the Trustee, commented: “This is a very important step for the Trustee, securing all remaining member benefits with a world-class insurer. We have enjoyed working with Canada Life and LCP, and have been impressed by their responsiveness and by how smoothly the buy-in has been achieved.

“We are confident that we have achieved an excellent outcome for our members.”

Gareth Davies, LCP, lead adviser to the Trustee, commented: “It has been a pleasure to have advised the Trustee on both the first buy-in transaction a decade ago, and this latest buy-in transaction which successfully concludes the Scheme’s journey to full buy-in.

“In the current busy market, we continue to see very high levels of engagement for well prepared and well-run processes, which is the hallmark of the LCP Streamlined Buy-in Service. I was delighted it helped the Trustee obtain several attractive insurer quotations giving them highly competitive pricing and robust terms.”