West Bromwich Building Society pension scheme agrees £70m buy-in

The West Bromwich Building Society Staff Retirement Scheme has completed a £70m buy-in with Canada Life, securing the benefits of all uninsured scheme members, including around 490 deferred members and 400 pensioner members.

LCP acted as risk transfer adviser to the trustee, while legal advice was provided by Gowling WLG. Canada Life was advised by its in-house legal team.

The transaction made use of LCP's Streamlined Buy-in Service, which is specifically designed for schemes looking to do transactions under £200m, and ensured a "smooth and efficient" process.

Trustee chair, Glyn Smith, highlighted the buy-in as a "very important step" for the trustee, by securing all remaining member benefits with Canada Life.

"We have enjoyed working with Canada Life and LCP, and have been impressed by their responsiveness and by how smoothly the buy-in has been achieved," Smith continued. "We are confident that we have achieved an excellent outcome for our members.”

Bulk purchase annuities business development director at Canada Life, Shreyas Sridhar, also emphasised the importance of collaboration between the trustee and its advisers in delivering the "outstanding outcome" for the scheme's members.

“In a highly competitive market, which continues to experience significant growth, we are delighted that the trustee has chosen to secure its members’ benefits with Canada Life," Sridhar continued.

"The transaction builds on the renewed momentum in our business, with a particular focus on insuring deferred members.

"We recognised the importance of offering a tailored solution to the trustee that met the needs of the pension scheme, underpinned by Canada Life’s robust financial strength and resilience."

Lead adviser to the trustee at LCP, Gareth Davies, added: "It has been a pleasure to have advised the trustee on both the first buy-in transaction a decade ago, and this latest buy-in transaction which successfully concludes the scheme’s journey to full buy-in.

"In the current busy market, we continue to see very high levels of engagement for well prepared and well-run processes, which is the hallmark of the LCP Streamlined Buy-in Service.

"I was delighted it helped the trustee obtain several attractive insurer quotations giving them highly competitive pricing and robust terms."



Share Story:

Recent Stories


FREE E-NEWS SIGN UP

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news and other industry announcements by email.

  Please tick here to confirm you are happy to receive third party promotions from carefully selected partners.


Helping the credit challenged get mortgage ready
A rising number of borrowers are finding it harder to access mortgages due to being credit challenged - whether that’s from historic debts, a county court judgment, or having little to no credit history.

In the latest episode of the Mortgage Insider podcast, Phil Spencer is joined by Eloise Hall, Head of National Accounts at Kensington Mortgages, and Alastair Douglas, CEO of TotallyMoney.


Inside the world of high net worth lending
The mortgage market continues to evolve, and so too does the answer to the question: what is a high net worth individual in today’s market? In this episode of the Mortgage Insider podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Stephen Moroukian, Head of Product and Proposition for Real Estate Financing at Barclays Private Bank, and Islay Robinson, founder and CEO of Enness Global. Together, they explore what brokers really need to know when supporting high net worth individuals.

The future of the bridging industry and the Autumn Budget
MoneyAge content editor, Dan McGrath, is joined by head of marketing at Black & White Bridging, Matt Horton, to discuss the bridging industry, the impact of the Autumn Budget and what the future holds for the sector.