PIC insures £230 million of Pilkington Scheme

London, 22 August 2016 – Pension Insurance Corporation (“PIC”), a specialist insurer of defined benefit pension funds, has concluded a pension insurance buy-in with the Trustee of the Pilkington Superannuation Scheme ("the Scheme"), for a premium of around £230 million. The lead advisor to the Trustee on the transaction was Aon Hewitt.

Pilkington Group Limited is a multinational glass manufacturing company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japan-based Nippon Sheet Glass Co Ltd. This is PIC’s 13th transaction with a UK pension scheme that is ultimately sponsored by a Japanese company.

Keith Greenfield, Chairman of the Trustee Company, said: “We are very pleased to have been able to insure a proportion of our pensioner liabilities through this buy-in. We had to move quickly to secure the buy-in in the light of current volatile markets. The PIC team were flexible and innovative in helping us complete this transaction and I want to thank both them and our advisers, Aon Hewitt, Hogan Lovells and Willis Towers Watson.”

Uzma Nazir, Actuary at PIC, said: “The Trustee has been proactive in managing risk in the pension scheme for a number of years and we are proud to have been able to help it complete this significant step. There has been a tangible increase in interest from trustees in buy-ins since the Brexit referendum and we have completed a number of transactions over the past few weeks and expect more to follow. The Scheme benefitted from the rise in the value of gilts and exchanged them for a buy-in policy.”

John Baines, Partner in Aon Hewitt's Risk Settlement Group, who led the transaction said: "Having helped the Trustee successfully execute a longevity swap in 2011 as part of a focus on longevity risk management, we are delighted to have again been able to find a solution which fitted in with the Scheme’s broader investment strategy. We achieved this through a robust market review exercise, and the negotiation of a price lock mechanism in the run-up to the transaction. This meant that we were able to ensure a predictable and positive outcome for the Scheme and capitalise on the attractive pricing currently available in the bulk annuity market, driven by market conditions following the EU referendum."

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Notes to Editors:

For further information please contact:

Pension Insurance Corporation

Jeremy Apfel
+44 (0)20 7105 2140 
apfel@pensioncorporation.com

Teneo Strategy

Anthony Silverman
+44 (0)20 7240 2486
Anthony.Silverman@teneostrategy.com

About Pension Insurance Corporation
Pension Insurance Corporation plc ("PIC") provides tailored pension insurance buyouts and buy-ins to the trustees and sponsors of UK defined benefit pension funds. PIC brings safety and security to scheme members' benefits through innovative, bespoke insurance solutions, which include deferred premiums and the use of company assets as part payment. At year-end 2015 PIC had £16.6bn in assets and had insured 132,100 pension fund members. Clients include FTSE 100 companies, multinationals and the public sector. PIC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority (FRN 454345). For further information please visit www.pensioncorporation.com

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