Legal & General, which three months ago was reported to have entered a pension scheme buy-in agreement with Heathrow, has now sealed a “ground-breaking” deal with the trustees of the oldest retirement plan sponsored by British Airways.
In a joint announcement this morning, the insurance company and Airways Pension Scheme (APS) said the pension risk transfer is the biggest bulk annuity transaction – at £4.4 billion – ever completed in the UK. It will cover approximately 60% of all pensioner liabilities of APS, which has roughly 24,000 members.
Back in June the UK insurer’s institutional retirement chief executive, Laura Mason, expressed Legal & General’s keenness to secure such deals.
This interest was confirmed by group CEO Nigel Wilson last month.
“We expect to have an exceptionally busy H2,” said Wilson when the firm announced its first half results. “We are currently actively quoting on over £20 billion of UK pension risk transfer deals, including over £7 billion of transactions in exclusive negotiations expected to close in H2.”
This time Mason commented: “We are very pleased to have been able to work with the British Airways Pensions team and to have completed this ground-breaking transaction. It is a great example of how Legal & General is helping trustees secure their members’ benefits through our ability to manage complex circumstances and offer flexible solutions.
“Today’s transaction was the culmination of a long period of engagement with the Trustee and its team and was the result of many individuals’ collaborative engagement and efforts. We look forward to building on our relationship with the British Airways Pensions team and further supporting them in delivering for the members of APS.”
