EUROPE - The new pensions buyout firm Pension Insurance Corp. has gained £1bn (€1.47bn) in financing and may target deals outside the UK, the Financial Times reported.

The FT said Edmund Truell, the founder of Duke Street Capital, has secured the capital from a group of investors led by US financier Christopher Flowers. Other investors included ABN Amro, Swiss RE, HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sampo Life, Coller capital and hedge fund group Cycladic Capital.

Truell, the paper said, was in "a number of active discussions" over pension scheme transfers. It would start by concentrating on the UK but could eventually target markets outside the country, such as the Netherlands.

PIC, to be chaired by St James' Place co-founder Sir Mark Weinberg, would use Paymaster for administration. Duke Street acquired Paymaster when it bought the pension and benefits outsourcing business of Hogg Robinson for an undisclosed sum last year.

PIC would take on the assets and liabilities of mature occupational pension schemes, entering a market that has seen recent entrants such as Paternoster and Synesis.

The FT quoted Truell saying the capital would enable about £20bn of pension scheme liabilities to be taken on.

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