Pensions De-risking & Insured Solutions

Our market-leading practice advises trustees and employer sponsors on all types of pensions risk transfer transactions, including longevity deals, and full or partial buy-ins and buy-outs. We help clients understand the jargon and latest products so they can consider whether these are the right options for their scheme.

As schemes mature more trustees and sponsors are seeking insurance solutions to manage pension scheme risks and volatility. These are among the most significant and longest-term transactions that pension fund trustees will enter into, with major implications for member security and for trustee and employer exposure to any ongoing risk.

All of our specialists have extensive experience of working with pensions clients on large and complex transactions and exercises.

We integrate closely with our clients' project teams and their other advisers for maximum efficiency and to provide holistic advice, so that our clients have a full understanding of the transaction – not just the workstreams involved and how it will run, but also what the longer term implications for our clients will be.

As well as insurance transactions we have a wealth of experience advising on risk management investments such as derivative contracts (find out more about our pensions investment practice and security structures to support scheme funding).

We help clients to identify and deal with the issues, including:

assessing and managing counterparty risk
treatment of member data
the systems and processes required to support and monitor collateral regimes
how closely a contract matches liabilities and how much this really matters (including “all risks” buy-outs and “perfect” hedges)
whether liabilities can be reshaped (see more about liability management)
how longevity or buy-in contracts fit with a scheme’s overall strategy and diversification of investments
direct access to the reinsurance market
the impact of Solvency II regulatory capital requirements on existing or new contracts
the implications of risk-management transactions for eventual buy-out
whether trustees will be properly discharged from their obligations after buy-out.

Industry appointments

We participate in a wide range of pensions industry groups including the Steering Committee of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries' Member Interest Group (MIG) for Bulk Annuities and Longevity Swaps. See our full list of industry appointments.

Advising the Trustee of the British Steel Pension Scheme in connection with a series of insurance transactions which have resulted in all scheme liabilities being insured with Legal & General, taking total buy-ins to £7.5bn and making it the largest pension scheme to reach full insurance.
Advising Rothesay in relation to its £640m buy-in of the Smiths Group’s TI Group Pension Scheme.
Advising Rothesay Life in relation to its £3.8bn buy-in of the Asda Group Pension Scheme.
Advising British American Tobacco on a buy-in of the British American Tobacco UK Pension Fund insuring £3.4bn of liabilities with Pension Insurance Corporation. The agreement secures the benefits of 10,600 members (8,300 pensioners and 2,300 non- pensioners). At that time it was the third largest transaction in the UK and the largest ever including both pensioner and deferred members. We subsequently advised on a further buy-in of approximately £400m of additional liabilities.
Advising the Nortel Networks UK Pension Trust Ltd on a £2.4bn PPF-plus buyout for the Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan with Legal & General, allowing the Plan to exit its 10 year PPF assessment period. We subsequently advised on a further buyout, bringing the total value of transactions between the Plan and Legal & General to over £2.5 billion.
Advising the ZF UK (formerly TRW) Pension Plan on the biggest ever UK buyout (at that time) of c.£2.4bn of liabilities.

Advising the trustees of the AXA UK Group Pension Scheme, as conflict counsel in relation to its £2.8bn insurance-wrapped longevity hedging transaction.
Advising the Lehman Brothers Pension Scheme on its £675m bulk annuity deal with Rothesay Life.
Advising the Greenalls Group Pension trustees in relation to a "PPF plus" buyout with innovative features.
Advising the Akzo Noel (CPS) Pension Scheme on a £1.4bn longevity hedging policy.
Advising the trustee of the Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motors Pension Scheme on its £400m longevity insurance with Abbey Life.
Advising the Mirror Group Pension Scheme on a £250m buy-in of pensioner liabilities.
Advising the Scottish and Newcastle Pension Plan (sponsored by Heineken) on a £2.4bn longevity hedge transaction.

A very thorough and practical team of lawyers.

The Travers Smith team "excels at overseeing complex de-risking exercises and cross-border transactions, as well as at advising stressed schemes".

The Travers Smith team "is highly regarded for advising some of the industry's largest pension schemes on high-profile longevity transactions and bulk annuity purchases".