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Legal and General Assurance Society Limited (“Legal & General”) today announces that it has agreed a £250m buy-in transaction with the Selecta UK Pension Plan (“the Plan”) securing the benefit payments of approximately 1,000 pensioners and 1,000 deferred members.
22 Sep 2021
Selecta UK is Europe’s leading coffee and vending machine operator. The Plan has an existing relationship with Legal & General, having worked with Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) as its asset manager since 1992. This enabled an extremely smooth asset transfer, with Legal & General also being able to lock to the Plan’s existing assets which provided price certainty to the Plan at an early stage of the buy-in process.
The buy-in also significantly reduces future pension funding risk from Selecta's point of view, providing more business certainty for stakeholders and aligns with actions taken in supporting and securing members' benefits.
Hymans Robertson was the lead transaction adviser. Legal advice was provided to the Trustee by Pinsent Masons and to Legal & General by Macfarlanes. The sponsor was advised by PWC.
Celia Monteiro, Director, Pension Risk Transfer, Legal & General Retirement Institutional “Working with pension schemes at all stages of their de-risking journey is fundamental to what we do at Legal & General and we are delighted that we have been chosen as the Selecta UK Pension Plan’s buy-in partner, given their long-standing relationship with LGIM. This transaction and the smooth transfer of assets once again demonstrates our ability to offer innovative, bespoke, buy-in solutions for our clients.
We look forward to continuing to work with the Plan as it continues its de-risking journey, providing further security to its members.”
Margrit Williams
Director of External Engagement
Legal & General Capital
Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK’s leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with £1.2 trillion in total assets under management (as at FY23) of which c40% (circa £0.5 trillion) is international.
We have a highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns. We are a leading international player in Institutional Retirement, in Retail Savings and Protection, and in both public and private markets through our Asset Management division. Across the Group, we are committed to responsible investing and dedicated to serving the long-term savings and investment needs of customers and society.
As at 7 June 2024, we estimate the Group’s Solvency II coverage ratio to be 224%.
As at 11 June 2024, Legal & General has a market capitalisation of £14.6 billion.
Institutional Retirement works with trustees and sponsoring companies of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes of all sizes to settle their pension obligations and secure scheme members’ benefits, through a full range of buy-ins, buyouts and other de-risking solutions. Our Client Services’ 12-month rolling Net Promoter Score (NPS) is above +70, which is widely regarded as being at a “world class” level. Legal & General is the UK’s longest-standing active bulk annuity provider.
Our UK Retirement annuity book stands at an estimated £86.1 billion at 31 December 2023. Across the group over £30 billion is invested in direct investments that deliver positive social and environmental impacts, such as clean energy and affordable housing. Legal & General provides income and pension security to more than a million retirement customers around the world.