Risk Transfer

With the risk transfer market busier than ever, our pension team has extensive experience in advising trustees and employers on solutions including buy-ins, buy-outs, transfers to master trusts and, ultimately, winding up pension schemes.

Trustees need legal advice and support throughout the risk transfer process. We advise pension schemes preparing for buy-in and buy-out on:

GMP Equalisation
Final salary link issues
Data cleansing
Benefit structure issues or uncertainties

Preparation is key to obtaining insurer quotations on favourable terms, without significant surprises further down the line.

We advise schemes throughout the risk transfer process on:

Project management
Preparing or reviewing benefit specifications and providing legal sign off as part of the bulk annuity contract
Advising on relevant discretionary powers and discretionary benefits
Reviewing and negotiating insurer terms
Drafting compliant communications
Advising on use of surplus
Final wind-up of the pension scheme
Protections for trustees and/or employers post wind-up.

Experience

Advising on a £50m buy-in, the third for the client in ten years. Delivered within a very tight timescale, resulting in securing of all the scheme’s benefits.

Advising the trustees on the buy-in then buy-out of the scheme. Complex equalisation issues regarding transferred-in benefits from a previous scheme required detailed advice.

Advising a scheme on various preparatory aspects of a buy-out project, including how to effectively break the final salary link in place for a cohort of deferred members, GMP equalisation and issues presented following the rulings in Virgin Media Limited v NTL Pension Trustees II Limited.