Mercer has appointed former PwC pension risk transfer specialist Ben Stone as partner in its own risk transfer team.
In his new role, Stone will advise clients on bulk annuity, member option exercises, longevity swap, migration to a master trust, or other alternatives. Based in London, Stone will report to Andrew Ward, partner and risk transfer and DB journey planning Leader.
At PwC Stone led the pension risk transfer team, advising trustee and corporate clients on 30 buy-in, buy-out and longevity swap transactions. Prior to that, he was an actuary at Willis Towers Watson. Stone led several industry landmark projects in recent years including the Lehman Brothers Pension Scheme buy-out in 2015, the £4.4bn British Airways Pension Scheme buy-in in 2019 and last year’s £3.8bn full-scheme buy-in transaction for the ASDA Group Pension Scheme.
Ward said: “We are delighted to welcome Ben and his extensive skills to our team. As a well-regarded expert in the area of pension risk transfer, he boosts Mercer’s capabilities further by bringing fresh thinking and experience. An increasing number of defined benefit schemes are considering their end games and will either decide to adopt a difference governance model, for example fiduciary management, or possibly decide to transfer their liabilities to insurers. As a firm, we are agnostic on the solution used as long as it is right for our client, and we are determined to be the leading adviser to support trustees and sponsoring employers through this.
“With the growing uncertainty stemming from COVID-19 it is crucial for schemes to plan ahead. We are confident that Ben’s contribution will be invaluable as we continue to support our clients through this period.”
