Prudential strikes longevity reinsurance deal with Phoenix Group

Prudential Financial, through its business unit Prudential Retirement, has entered into a longevity reinsurance agreement covering UK retirees with life and pensions consolidator Phoenix Group.

The deal expands Prudential's business in the UK pension risk transfer market. With the addition of Phoenix, Prudential now provides reinsurance support to pension insurers that account for roughly 90 percent of the annual volume of buy-ins and buy-outs in the UK.

“We are excited to be working together with Phoenix. It has been a pleasure to witness the successful launch of their pension risk transfer business and we are thrilled to support them by re-insuring their longevity risk,” said Christian Ercole, vice president, longevity risk transfer.

Justin Grainger, Phoenix Group’s head of bulk purchase annuities, said: “We are delighted to have completed our first longevity reinsurance transaction with Prudential. Phoenix views longevity reinsurance as a key risk management tool. This transaction brings further depth to our reinsurer relationships and enhances our ability to offer competitive terms to pension schemes as we continue to develop our de-risking proposition.”

Rohit Mathur, head of international transactions for longevity risk transfer at Prudential Retirement, added: “Prudential has consistently focused on supporting the entire U.K. pension de-risking market. The addition of Phoenix is a culmination of our efforts over the past several years to do just that.”

“We have invested in our pricing and transaction teams and that is especially important right now as U.K. pension schemes are racing to get risk transfer deals over the line during the six-month Brexit delay. With so much uncertainty on the horizon, we are happy to be in a position to support the robust pipeline of pension buy-ins and buy-outs seeking to be completed while market conditions hold.”

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