The Citrus Pension Plan, one of the UK’s leading DB Master Trusts, has confirmed they have completed a c£6.5m buy-in with Legal & General for the Amey Services Section of the plan.

The transaction, covering all of the liabilities that the Amey Section holds within the Citrus Pension Plan Master Trust, has been described as a great success, further increasing the security of member benefits. The process the Citrus Plan has developed for insuring different sections’ benefits and the efficiency and leverage they are able to apply as a Master Trust were particularly important in securing excellent terms for a relatively small UK DB section.

The transaction also highlights Legal & General’s ability to carry out fast and efficient pricing in a busy market. The parties completed the transaction within just eight weeks of the Trustee sharing the initial data with Legal & General.

Hymans Robertson acted as the lead transaction adviser. Legal advice was provided to the Trustee by Addleshaw Goddard.

Sabeen Iftikhar, Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI), commented:

“We’re delighted to have completed this buy-in with the Citrus Pension Plan. Our collaborative and client-friendly approach meant we were able to price the Plan quickly and efficiently despite a busy market, making the process seamless and straightforward for the client. We look forward to working with the Citrus Pension Plan in the future and supporting them throughout their de-risking journey.”

Marcus Hurd, the Chair of the Trustee, Citrus Pension Plan, said:

“The fantastic support from Amey, and our advisers Hymans Robertson and Addleshaw Goddard, has enabled us to secure this buy-in with Legal & General. Legal & General’s streamlined approach meant we were able to complete the transaction, amidst some of the most challenging market conditions in many years, in a very efficient manner. Citrus serves to deliver member benefit security and we take another step on that journey by completing this buy-in for the Amey Section. We expect to complete further transactions in 2023, securing benefits for more of the Citrus membership.” 

Richard Wellard, Partner at Hymans Robertson, said:

“We have been working with Citrus and Amey for a number of years and we’ve been delighted to see the funding and investment strategy steadily improve the funding position to the point it has allowed a buy-in to be secured for all members. We’ve worked with the Trustee to build a strategy which works towards full buy-in in a managed fashion and through Citrus, provides an opportunity to access the risk transfer market more effectively and efficiently than the individual sections could achieve as standalone schemes. Legal & General’s ability to carry out fast and efficient pricing was a further support in making this a streamlined process. I’m delighted we’ve been able to secure a full buy-in, managing to do so amidst unprecedented market conditions and ultimately providing further security to members’ benefits.”

Andrew Devlin, Group Pensions Director at Amey, said:

“Amey is grateful to the Trustee and its advisers for their efforts in concluding this transaction, which enhances members’ security whilst reducing balance sheet risk in line with Amey’s pension strategy."