Legal & General seals £261m pension risk transfer deals despite COVID-19 disruption

UK's life and general insurance provider Legal & General (L&G) completed eight pension risk transfer (PRT) transactions totaling £261 million in March.

The deals cover UK and US pension schemes, ranging in size from approximately £2.2 million to £80 million. L&G signed three separate transactions on March 27.

"Amidst a challenging environment and great uncertainty, today’s announcement demonstrates that despite the significant disruption we are still able to provide security to pension scheme members through risk transfer transactions," stated Chris DeMarco, managing director of UK pension risk transfer at L&G.

"Recent history demonstrates that periods of market disruption may provide opportunities for schemes to de-risk their schemes," he added. "The sharp widening of credit spreads, combined with the strong appreciation in the value of gilts many schemes are holding, has improved buy-in and buyout pricing."

George Palms, president of Legal & General Retirement America (LGRA), noted: “The PRT market in the US continues to be active and we look forward to continuing helping plans de-risk over the year ahead.”

Iain Brown, pensions partner, EY said: “Despite the economic uncertainty created by COVID-19 and recent market volatility, we have witnessed resilience in the bulk annuity market with pricing holding up and actually improving. We are still seeing schemes keen to undertake bulk annuity transactions."