Press Releases

• 2024 expected to be another bumper year
• £50bn a year will be the new normal for buy-in volumes, with the market expected to be at least that level every year for the remainder of the decade

Total pension scheme buy-in and buy-out volumes for 2023 reached an all-time high with both the number and value of transactions secured the highest ever recorded, says Hymans Robertson. The leading pensions and financial services consultancy has analysed the 2023 results which have now been published by the majority of insurers currently active in the market, along with publicly announced buy-in transactions.

Comment on the Spring Budget 2024 from William Marshall, Iain Campbell, Simon Jones, Julie Hammerton, Susan Waites, Alison Leslie and Paul Waters.

Comments from Alison Leslie and Paul Waters following on from today's Spring Budget announcements.

Commenting on plans to launch a British ISA, Julie Hammerton, Partner and Head of Hymans Robertson Personal Wealth, said:

"The introduction of a British ISA is unlikely to be a meaningful way to fulfil the policy objective of boosting UK growth. While it’s great to see a long-overdue rise to the ISA allowance, encouraging people to save more in a tax efficient way, stipulating that the extra £5,000 goes towards a British ISA has the potential to be at odds with the old saying "don't put too many eggs in the one basket". A key tenet of investing is diversification. Investing across different countries is a way to reduce investment risk by avoiding excessive concentration in any one market...

Commenting on the Chancellor’s cut to employee National Insurance Contributions (NIC), Susan Waites, Partner, Hymans Robertson, said:

“The widely trailed 2% reduction in employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) announced in the Spring Budget will provide a welcome boost to take home pay from April. An individual earning £35k will be £448 a year better off. It does however further erode the savings an employee makes by sacrificing pay for pension contributions, which cuts across Government intentions and industry efforts to incentivise employees to pay much more into their workplace pensions.”

Commenting on the Pensions Regulator’s (TPR’s) consultation on the statement of strategy for the DB funding code of practice, Laura McLaren, Head of DB Actuarial Consulting, Hymans Robertson, said:

“At last we have an idea of how TPR sees the draft regulations and code translating into a statement of strategy. The proposed template sets clear expectations for the information a scheme must provide, and what will be compliant.

“However, the extra disclosures looks like a significant addition to valuations. The challenge will be to streamline compliance so it’s as easy as possible.

On his hopes and expectations for what the Government will announce in the Spring Budget, Paul Waters, Head of DC Markets, Hymans Robertson, said:

“Pensions Minister Paul Maynard has said the Spring Budget might contain an update on the lifetime provide model or ‘pot for life’.  But there are a number of other initiatives in play to tackle our fragmented pensions system, such as consolidation and the pensions dashboard, which should be given time to deliver first, before pot for life.  Only then will we know if we’re tackling the right problem.  Radical developments like the lifetime pension model should be longer term policy considerations.”

Hymans Robertson has appointed Leonard Bowman to the role of Head of Corporate Consulting across the pensions market. In this newly created role he will be focused on ensuring Hymans Robertson’s strategy is joined up and coordinated across its corporate clients, helping them to navigate the increasingly complex array of choices they face for their schemes.

Availability of climate data from private markets remained patchy in 2023, shows research from Hymans Robertson. This leaves DB and DC asset owners with gaps in their decision-making process and at risk of seeing their own climate reports failing to meet regulatory standards, warns the leading pensions and financial services consultancy. Trustees who have set strong data quality objectives need their asset managers to respond. Whilst TCFD has driven improvements in disclosure, asset owners’ climate goals can only be supported by ongoing improvements in data gathering and reporting, it adds.

A new consulting approach and digital app which empowers defined benefit (DB) schemes to build and implement a cohesive buy-out strategy and plan has been launched by Hymans Robertson today. Backed by innovative digital tools, the PACE (Plan, Aim, Check, Execute) framework helps schemes to aim squarely at buy-out, using dynamic annuity pricing to benefit from the best insights on insurer pricing. It integrates affordability, investment and due diligence considerations to build a robust plan, making the best use of time leading-up to the transaction to get schemes ready for buy-out. The PACE app also uses dynamic annuity pricing to let schemes see how close they are to buy-out and what happens if things change. This new approach from the leading pensions and financial services consultancy supports robust decision making, with dynamic progress checks and Hymans Robertsons’ risk transfer team ready to execute a transaction when the time comes.  

Commenting on the DWP consultation on DB surplus extraction published today, Laura McLaren, Head of DB Actuarial Consulting, Hymans Robertson, said:

“We’re pleased the Government has supported our call to link conditions for surplus extraction to scheme funding level and security of accrued rights. We also welcome the proposal that extracting surplus will not be conditional on use of funds for particular purposes. Surplus extraction will be more effective where it is part of a larger reframing of the statutory objective for DB, to bring about a DB renaissance and secure future pension provision.”

Commenting on TPR’s annual DB landscape report published today, Laura McLaren, Head of DB Actuarial Consulting, Hymans Robertson, said:

“The Pensions Regulator’s latest annual report on defined benefit (DB) occupational pension schemes as at 31 March 2023, underscores that the landscape has changed rapidly over the last couple of years...