Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has completed full scheme buy-ins with the trustees of three defined benefit pension schemes formerly sponsored by Thomas Cook Group.
These schemes total £50m ($63.8m) and entered PPF assessment in September 2019 following the liquidation of Thomas Cook Group.
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The buy-ins secure the liabilities of 520 members across the schemes to receive benefits at, or above Pension Protection Fund (PPF) compensation levels.
However, the exact outcome for each member will not be known until the buyouts occur.
Jonathan Hazlett, managing director of open trustees, who acted as sole trustee to the schemes, said: “We are delighted to have entered into these buy-in policies with PIC. The insurance market is extremely busy at the current time and it can be very challenging to secure member benefits for smaller schemes. It has been a long process but PIC has offered us the opportunity to ensure that the Schemes’ members receive benefits greater than what they would have received from the PPF.”
Tristan Walker-Buckton, head of pricing at PIC, added: “Many much larger schemes are now seeking to de-risk this year, so demonstrating that PIC is interested in the whole buyout market and has the adaptability and scale to accommodate all sizes of deal is important to us. Open Trustees have now been able to completely de-risk these three Schemes, providing greater security to the members.”
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By GlobalDataIn 2023, PIC completed a partial buy-in deal with the Trustee of the Amey OS Pension Scheme.
The transaction will see PIC cover the pensions of 3,473 members, including 1,938 deferred members and insure liabilities worth £400m.
In bulk purchase annuity (BPA) agreements, specialist insurers get paid by pension funds to assume liability for the latter’s plans and offer payments to the plan’s participants.
