Halma group pension schemes agree £250m buy-ins with Standard Life

Written by Sophie Smith

07/11/2024

The Halma Group Pension Plan and the Apollo Pension and Life Assurance Plan have secured £250m of buy-ins with Standard Life, securing retirement benefits for 2,200 pension scheme members.

The two schemes are part of the same sponsor group, as the Halma Group Pension Plan is sponsored by Halma plc, and the Apollo Pension and Life Assurance Plan is sponsored by Apollo Fire Detectors Limited, whose parent company is Halma plc.

LCP acted as the lead transaction adviser to the trustee, with investment advice from Mercer and legal advice from Squires Patton Boggs.

The trustees, sponsors and their advisers collaborated "closely" with Standard Life to meet both plans’ de-risking objectives and secure the buy-ins, which is expected to significantly reduce risk exposure for the plans and their members.

“By collaborating closely with the trustees, sponsors and their respective advisers, we are pleased to provide a secure home for the benefits for over 2,000 members," Standard Life bulk purchase annuity (BPA) transaction manager, Joe Haswell, commented.

"The plans came to market with clear objectives and well-prepared data and benefits, which laid the groundwork for an effective outcome.

"The BPA market continues to be busy, and as the end of the year fast approaches, solid preparation like this remains key to the efficient production of quotes in a competitive market.”

In addition to this, LCP partner, David Fink, said that running the two buy-in processes together also helped the trustees secure attractive pricing for both plans quickly and efficiently in the busy market.

“I am delighted to have helped the trustees of the plans take a significant step on their de-risking journeys by fully insuring the benefits in both plans," he stated.

"The increased scale of the combined transaction also meant the plans were able to optimise the secondary market sale for the plans’ illiquid assets.”

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