The iPSL section of the Unisys Payment Services Pension Scheme and the Unisys Public Sector Pension Scheme have completed a £300m bulk purchase annuity transaction with Standard Life.
The transaction, completed in November 2023, secures the benefits of 2,400 members of the schemes.
It follows an initial market broking exercise in early 2023, where the trustees of the schemes chose to partner with Standard Life to monitor the schemes’ positions over time.
This, Standard Life said, allowed the trustees to complete the transaction “quickly” and “lock in a favourable position in just three weeks” when affordability was reached in the second half of the year.
Hetal Kotecha, trustee director at Independent Governance Group and chair of trustee for the scheme,. said the transaction represented a “milestone step” and was the culmination of a wider journey of derisking for the schemes with the support of the sponsoring employers.
Kotecha said: “We are grateful to Standard Life and our advisers for their collaboration and energy in securing this opportunity, working effectively with the trustee and sponsors to execute quickly.”
Kieran Mistry, senior business development manager at Standard Life, said the cooperation and engagement of all parties was “exceptional” facilitating these buy-ins on accelerated timelines and reinforcing the importance of being adaptable and agile.
Mistry added: “This transaction demonstrates the value of close partnerships between schemes and insurers, following the blueprint we have developed with a number of schemes over recent years. Processes like this benefit from focus, attention and preparation of all parties to identify and capture opportunities which would otherwise be missed in a conventional market broking process.”
Mercer acted as lead transaction adviser to the trustee, with Gowling WLG providing legal advice.
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