SCOR & RGA in North American longevity market first
SCOR Global Life and RGA Life Reinsurance Company of Canada (RGA Canada), a subsidiary of Reinsurance Group of America (RGA), have entered into a longevity insurance transaction with Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Sun Life) in a deal that represents the first of its type for the North American market.
The deal covers benefits in payment for pensioners who are members of the Bell Canada pension plan. The risk of these members living longer is transferred from Bell Canada’s pension scheme to Sun Life and the two reinsurers.
The associated liabilities are approximately C$5 billion, which makes this transaction one of the largest pension scheme longevity insurance transactions completed globally.
The effective date of the transaction is January 1, 2015.
“We are very pleased to announce RGA’s participation in this transaction, the first of its kind in North America,” said Alka Gautam, president and chief executive officer, RGA Canada.
“We have delivered an important longevity risk management solution for Sun Life and for BCE, uniting the pension, insurance and reinsurance worlds.”
Following SCOR Global Life's numerous deals in the UK market and the pioneering longevity transaction in the Netherlands in December 2013, this transaction is the first longevity insurance transaction SCOR Global Life has underwritten in North America.
SCOR Global Life aims to double its longevity business over the course of the three-year "Optimal Dynamics" plan. Today's transaction marks an important step in this direction.
Paolo De Martin, CEO of SCOR Global Life, said: "This transaction is significant due to its size and the fact that it is the first longevity insurance transaction in the Canadian market.
“Fully consistent with SCOR's "Optimal Dynamics" strategic plan, this transaction demonstrates our ability to leverage our successes in the UK longevity market in order to customise a solution for a Canadian client. It also further illustrates the ability of SCOR Global Life's newly created Global Longevity team to offer its clients best-in-class solutions, leveraging its global reach."
