Around 54 per cent have said that they expect over half of their schemes to complete a bulk annuity transaction over the next 5 years.
The Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) hosted an event this week for pension professionals to get practical guidance on preparing for bulk annuity transactions.
More than 200 attendees were asked what percentage of their schemes they expected to make a bulk annuity transaction in the next five years. Around 54 per cent said they expected that around half of their schemes would engage in such transactions, while an additional 15 per cent estimated that more than three-quarters of their schemes would do so.
Around one-third or 31 per cent, of participants responded that just a small number of their schemes would do so.
Representatives from Rothesay, Aviva, Linklaters, and LCP discussed what makes a scheme more marketable, governance, legal and timing factors, transaction volumes, and marketplaces for smaller schemes.
SPP president Steve Hitchiner says: “The number of pension professionals expecting at least half of their schemes to complete a bulk annuity transaction over the next 5 years demonstrates the importance of pension de-risking strategies.
“It will be interesting to see whether these predictions prove accurate over the next few years but, regardless, the desire of schemes and sponsors to transfer risk to insurers seems firmly established.”
