Hymans Robertson has appointed risk transfer expert Lara Desay as a partner.
Desay joins from Scottish Widows where she was head of origination and operations for their bulk annuity team.
Before joining Hymans, Desay had a substantial impact on a number of important risk transfer transactions, including a £15bn deal between Scottish Widows and the pension plan for the Lloyds Banking Group.
She also oversaw the completion of Scottish Widows’ two largest transactions to date, a £510m deal with the Aon Retirement Plan and an £880m buy-in with the Littlewoods Pension Scheme.
Hymans Robertson partner and head of risk transfer solutions James Mullins says: “We are thrilled to welcome Lara to Hymans Robertson and I know she will be a brilliant addition to our risk transfer team with her impressive transaction experience.
“The continued growth of our team will enable us to help even more pension schemes to insure their liabilities through buy-ins, buy-outs, longevity swaps and other alternative forms of risk transfer.
“We know from experience that trustees and sponsoring employers really value working with a consultant who has previously worked for insurance company buy-in teams and so has a clear understanding of how to get the best results from the insurers. This is particularly important in a busy market, with our analysis showing that over £50bn a year of buy-ins are expected on average over the next five years.”
Desay says: “I am really pleased to be joining Hymans Robertson at such an exciting time for the risk transfer team, and the market more broadly as we head into a busy period for buy-in transactions.
“I look forward to leading many more ground-breaking transactions and working to capture the best risk transfer solutions for our clients. Hymans Robertson’s risk transfer team is committed to providing tailored advice to each client, and I am delighted to be a part of this.”
