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.

See also our Master trusts page.

• 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.