Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • August 2012
08

UK bulk annuity sales top £900m in second quarter

Open-access content Monday 13th August 2012 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

A total of £914m worth of bulk annuity deals were completed in the UK in a ‘relatively solid’ second quarter of 2012, Aon Hewitt said today.

2

The figure, published in the firm's latest UK bulk annuity quarterly survey, is almost double that recorded in the first three months of the year, where the total value of annuity deals concluded between pension schemes and insurers was £491m.

The total number of bulk annuity cases written also increased, up from 27 the previous quarter to 45.

There were no especially large bulk annuity deals written in the second quarter, but the two largest deals finalised were both buy-ins. These included the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority finalising a £272m pensioner buy-in with Prudential and Gartmore concluding a full buy-in of all its scheme liabilities, worth £160m, with Pension Insurance Corporation.

'The market's focus continued to be on pensioner buy-in opportunities, with full buy-ins (with the exception of Gartmore) and buyouts being unachievable for most schemes given the low level of bond yields and consequently high deficits,' Aon Hewitt said.

'Pricing opportunities continue to be available for schemes holding gilts,' it added. 'The opportunity to swap gilts for a pensioner buy-in which provides a higher return as well as a longevity hedge continued over the quarter.'

In total, PIC wrote the biggest share of bulk annuity deals in the second quarter, with its five cases amounting to £408m, or 44% of the share of the market over the three month period.

Smaller deals were also completed by MetLife, Aviva, L&G and Canada Life, while the Prudential's deal with the WMITA amounted to 30% of the quarter's market share.

Aon Hewitt also highlighted the £1.4bn longevity swap completed by Akzo Nobel during the quarter.

Moving forward, pipeline activity is 'buoyant' in terms of quotations being sought by pension schemes. 

This article appeared in our August 2012 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

You may also be interested in...

The world of software: And then there was R

Alan Chalk uses R to visualise data in Google Earth
Friday 17th August 2012
Open-access content

Testing your model

Model development and upgrades cost time and money. Errors in insurance companies’ models can be costly, in terms of money and time, to remediate as well as result in harmful effects such as under or over reserving, financial losses, reporting errors or missed opportunities
Thursday 23rd August 2012
Open-access content
2

Letters to the editor - August 2012

In which actuaries discuss the credibility of the ONS, lawyers' grammar and defined benefits
Friday 3rd August 2012
Open-access content
2

Low interest rates 'putting pressure on US life insurers'

‘Painfully low’ interest rates could continue to make it hard for US life insurers to improve their earnings and service their debts over the next two years, Fitch Ratings said on Friday.
Monday 13th August 2012
Open-access content
2

Dawson financial problems 'shows importance of de-risking'

The financial difficulties faced by textile firm Dawson International as a result of its large pension liabilities show how important it is for companies to have a clear strategy for de-risking their pension scheme, according to Malcolm McLean, a consultant at Barnett Waddingham.
Tuesday 14th August 2012
Open-access content

Deficit of PPF Index pension schemes up £16bn last month

The combined deficit of the 6,432 defined benefit pension schemes that are covered by the Pension Protection Fund increased by £16bn last month, figures published today have revealed.
Tuesday 14th August 2012
Open-access content

Latest from Professional

dxf

Bespoke tailoring: the UK government’s proposed reforms to Solvency II

Vrishti Goel discusses the UK government’s proposed reforms to Solvency II
Wednesday 31st August 2022
Open-access content
Financial services seen as most desirable sector for career changers

Financial services seen as most desirable sector for career changers

Over a third of UK workers will look to start a new career in the next year due to the cost-of-living crisis, with financial services seen as the joint most desirable sector, KPMG research suggests.
Wednesday 24th August 2022
Open-access content
web_p43_Student_student_july_2_CREDIT_Simon-Scarsbrook.jpg

Three’s a charm: the next iteration of the internet

Adeetya Tantia explains what we can expect from the next iteration of the internet, and how it could shake up the insurance industry
Wednesday 6th July 2022
Open-access content

Latest from August 2012

ta filler

Omnibus II vote delay raises concerns over Solvency II timetable

A European Parliament vote on the legislation which underpins new rules governing Europe's insurance industry has been put back by a month, raising concerns over the timetable for implementing the system.
Friday 31st August 2012
Open-access content
ta

Ill health 'is stopping 500,000 people near retirement from working'

Nearly half a million people approaching retirement are being prevented from working by disability or poor health, the Trades Union Congress said today.
Friday 31st August 2012
Open-access content

Enhanced annuity sales break £1bn barrier for first time

Quarterly sales of enhanced annuities exceeded £1bn for the first time between April and June 2012, according to figures published by Towers Watson today.
Thursday 30th August 2012
Open-access content

Latest from formbuilder_item_removed

2

Implementing IFRS 17 Discount Curves: Theoretical and Practical Challenges

The International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 17 requires liability cash flows to be discounted at rates that reflect the characteristics of the cash flows, including their liquidity
Tuesday 3rd September 2019
Open-access content
2

Profit Emergence Under IFRS 9 and IFRS 17: The impact of choice of liability discount rate

With the IFRS 17 accounting standard, insurers need to understand the patterns of profit emergence that arise under the standard, and how current business and methodology decisions affect such patterns.
Wednesday 10th July 2019
Open-access content
2

Whitepaper: Aggregation and diversification of the IFRS 17 Risk Adjustment

This paper forms part of a series of high-level papers designed to provide an introduction to different features of the risk adjustment that should be considered in advance of implementation.
Tuesday 29th January 2019
Open-access content

Latest from 08

ta filler

Omnibus II vote delay raises concerns over Solvency II timetable

A European Parliament vote on the legislation which underpins new rules governing Europe's insurance industry has been put back by a month, raising concerns over the timetable for implementing the system.
Friday 31st August 2012
Open-access content
ta

Ill health 'is stopping 500,000 people near retirement from working'

Nearly half a million people approaching retirement are being prevented from working by disability or poor health, the Trades Union Congress said today.
Friday 31st August 2012
Open-access content

Enhanced annuity sales break £1bn barrier for first time

Quarterly sales of enhanced annuities exceeded £1bn for the first time between April and June 2012, according to figures published by Towers Watson today.
Thursday 30th August 2012
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Senior Manager - Building new team!

London (Central)
Up to £130k + Bonus
Reference
148845

Shape the Future of Credit Risk Model Development

Flexible / hybrid with 2 days p/w office-based
£ six figure salary with excellent bonus potential + package
Reference
148843

Longevity Director

Flexible / hybrid with 2 days p/w office-based
£ six figure salary with excellent bonus potential + package
Reference
148842
See all jobs »
 
 
 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ