Financial services giant Legal & General Assurance Society Ltd has bought Cornish Mutual Assurance Company Ltd Staff Pension Scheme in an £11m deal which secures the benefits of more than 70 members.
Truro-based Cornish Mutual is a team of insurance professionals that aims to protect the rural farming community in the South West. The pension scheme is an existing client of the Legal & General Group, having appointed Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) as its asset manager in 2015.
Legal & General invests the premiums from the Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) transactions it agrees into economically and socially useful assets such as housing, transport and infrastructure.
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The funds are pooled together, effectively allowing pension schemes to contribute towards green, sustainable investments to support the UK economy.
Pension specialist Dalriada Trustees developed and implemented an appropriate de-risking strategy, in collaboration with its advisers, to achieve the buyout transaction. Eversheds provided legal advice to the trustee.
Julian Hobday, director, Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI), said: “We are a whole of market provider, helping pension schemes of all sizes to de-risk and bring further security for their members.
“As a result of strong and professional collaboration, the buyout was efficiently transacted when favourable pricing arose. We look forward to welcoming our new policyholders to Legal & General after the completion of the buyout.”
Tiziana Perrella, professional trustee at Dalriada Trustees, said: “This deal is a testament to how crucial a solid governance process is for successful transactions.
“We worked throughout the process in a collaborative way with both our advisers and Legal & General and we’re pleased to have agreed a transaction which results in greater security for the scheme benefits and much reduced risk for the scheme and its sponsor.
“Transactions such as these provide evidence that great pricing is available within the bulk annuity market for schemes of all sizes, if appropriate preparation has been done in advance.”
Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK’s leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with international businesses in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia.
With almost £1.3tn in total assets under management, it is the UK’s largest investment manager for corporate pension schemes and a UK market leader in pension risk transfer, alternative asset origination, life insurance, workplace pensions and retirement income.
The company said its purpose is to “build a better society, while improving the lives of our customers and creating value for shareholders”. To do this it invests in long-term assets from housing to renewable energy – and terms it “inclusive capitalism”.
LGRI works with trustees and sponsoring companies of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes of all sizes to settle their pension obligations and secure scheme members’ benefits, through a range of buy-ins, buyouts and other de-risking solutions. Its UK Retirement annuity book stands at more than £85bn, as at June 2021, of which more than £25bn is invested in direct investments that deliver positive social and environmental impacts, such as clean energy and affordable housing.
