This was the fourth buy-in transaction with Legal & General, securing in total the benefits of approximately 67,000 members. Travers Smith advised the Scheme on its three previous buy-in transactions in November 2021, May 2022 and January 2023 as part of the Scheme's strategic partnership with Legal & General. The transaction was implemented under an umbrella agreement, with the preceding transition of asset management from an in-house investment function to Legal & General Investment Management helping to facilitate the move to full insurance.
The £7.5bn scheme is now fully insured and has reached a funding level that will allow the Trustee to make additional payments to members under the agreement reached at the time when the Scheme was set up.
Dan Naylor commented: "It was a pleasure to lead a huge firmwide effort to deliver a fantastic result for the Trustee and Scheme members. This latest transaction in a series of buy-in deals is a great advert for the benefits of joined-up team work across a dedicated group of lawyers from a wide range of practice areas, all with the common goal of achieving the best outcome for the Scheme and its members through innovation and hard work."
The Travers Smith team was led by Pensions and Risk Management Partner Dan Naylor, Pensions Consultant Sarah Boon, Derivatives & Structured Products Partner Joseph Wren and Real Estate Partner Emma Pereira.
Support was provided from across the Pensions Sector Group, including Pensions Senior Associates Tom Green, Sheamal Samarasekera and Alexander Economides; from Derivatives & Structured Products, Partner Jonathan Gilmour and Senior Associate Nicholas Baines; from Real Estate Associate Hattie Assmundson; from Financial Services & Markets, Partner Tim Lewis, Senior Counsel Samuel Brewer and Associate Oliver Smith; from Employment Partner Ed Mills, Associates Laetitia Ajimal and Sophie Macpherson; and from Corporate, Partner Jonathan Walters.
