• Deal marks the third of its kind for Canada Life since they entered the market in 2015

• Transaction largely funded by gilts

• The deal covers over 50% of the Scheme’s total pensioner liability

Canada Life Limited today announced it had completed a £35 million pensioner buy-in transaction for the A.G. Barr plc (2008) Pension and Life Assurance Scheme. This transaction is the third bulk annuity deal executed by Canada Life since their entry into the market during 2015. The lead advisor to the Trustees on the transaction was Hymans Robertson LLP, with Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP providing advice on legal aspects. The transaction was primarily funded with gilts, as the Trustees took advantage of good pricing to optimise their low risk assets.

Canada Life and A.G. Barr plc (2008) Pension and Life Assurance Scheme executed the £35 million pension risk transfer deal at the beginning of May 2016, working together quickly to make good use of market opportunities. The deal covers over 50% of the Scheme’s total pensioner liability, focussed on those who have recently retired.

Pension funds are moving towards a stepped approach to pension risk transfer, allowing them to take advantage of market opportunities over time and reduce the risks associated with a single transaction.

Commenting on the latest transaction, Ian Watson, Head of Retirement Income Business Development at Canada Life Limited said: “Working closely with the team at Hymans Robertson ensured we captured the schemes individual requirements to ensure the smooth on-boarding of members of the A.G. Barr plc (2008) Pension and Life Assurance Scheme to Canada Life. Canada Life continues to develop our presence in the de-risking space by offering our expertise to pension schemes looking to change their risk profile. I believe our long history in the annuity market combined with our experience in helping schemes de-risk, places Canada Life in an excellent position to provide continued security to the Scheme's members over the years ahead."  

James Mullins, Partner and Head of Risk Transfer Solutions, said: "Increasing numbers of trustees and scheme sponsors are working together to minimise risk and maximise pension security for members. This deal is illustrative of the excellent value that the market for pensioner buy-ins represents at the moment. This is being driven by new entrants to the market such as Canada Life. It’s therefore highly likely we’ll see an increasing number of schemes go down this route, taking them a step closer to fully securing benefits. There are many different structures available to schemes to achieve this and so it’s critical to consider all options and obtain impartial advice.

A spokesman for the Trustee of the A.G. Barr plc (2008) Pension and Life Assurance Scheme said: "The trustee is pleased to have taken another important step in our ongoing process to improve the level of security of all our members' benefits. This deal reduces risk to the pension scheme, providing increased certainty to our sponsoring company, and most importantly, increased security to our members.  We were expertly guided through this process by Hymans Robertson and Shepherd and Wedderburn. I also want to thank Canada Life for working closely with us and our advisers, developing a proposal that met our specific requirements and enabling a smooth process to transaction.”