Press releases

Legal & General insures £600m of Pearson Pension Plan

The buy-in covers around 2,400 members of the Plan and helps the Trustee align its investments more closely with the pension benefits that the Plan is paying to members.

17 Oct 2017


The buy-in utilises an innovative “umbrella” contract structure that allows for further transactions to be completed quickly under existing contracts.

Chris DeMarco, Managing Director of UK PRT, said:

“The Pearson Pension Plan is a long standing client of Legal & General and we are delighted to have been selected as a buy-in partner for this next stage of the Plan’s de-risking journey. We look forward to continuing to build on our relationship with the Trustee and further supporting them in securing and protecting their members’ pensions.”

This latest transaction is another example of the strong momentum that we continue to see in the pension risk transfer market in both the U.K. and the U.S. In addition to the buy-in announced today, we have completed five transactions in the U.S. since the end of June for total premium of just over $120 million.

These transactions follow the strong first half of the year that we disclosed in our recent half year results which totalled £2.4 billion in pension risk transfer premiums and included buy-ins with The Plumbing & Mechanical Services (UK) Industry Pension Scheme and the Old Mutual Staff Pension Fund.

Kerrigan Procter, Chief Executive Officer, Legal & General Retirement, added:

“As trustee boards and sponsoring companies continue to improve scheme funding and manage down their risks, we are seeing demand for buy-ins, buyouts and longevity insurance grow. In the UK alone, we are currently quoting on circa £15 billion of pension buy-in and buyout business. While not every one of these opportunities will transact, it highlights the underlying strength that exists in the market and how increasing numbers of trustees are looking to us to help them deliver their members’ benefits.”

Notes to editors

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 management1 of which 40% is international. We have a unique and highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns. Legal & General provides powerful asset origination and management capabilities directly to clients, which also underpin our leading retirement and protection solutions. We are a leading international player in Pension Risk Transfer, in UK and US life insurance, and in UK workplace pensions and retirement income. Our purpose is to improve the lives of our customers and create value for our shareholders. Through inclusive capitalism, we are investing in long-term assets, such as real estate and infrastructure, that can help build a better society for the future.

1Data as at 31 December 2023.