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CRAC Pension Scheme secures full £2.89m buy-in with Just Group

Following a pensioner-only buy-in with Just Group in 2014, the scheme and charity trustees have been keen to secure the remaining benefits of the scheme.

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CRAC Pension Scheme secures full £2.89m buy-in with Just Group
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The CRAC Pension Scheme has secured a £2.8m full scheme buy-in with Just Group.

The scheme is sponsored by The Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited, a registered charity based in Cambridge which provides research, intelligence and innovation services for those who support the career development of people of all ages and across all sectors.

Following a pensioner-only buy-in with Just Group in 2014, the scheme and charity trustees have been keen to secure the remaining benefits of the scheme.

Reassurance of the affordability was provided by Just’s price monitoring and bulk quotation service, Beacon, allowing the scheme to proceed to transaction.

The £2.8m transaction secures the benefits of all 30 deferred members and 10 uninsured pensioner members and completes the buy-in of all remaining scheme liabilities.

Broadstone provided annuity broking advice.

This added to their existing appointment for scheme actuary, administration and investment consultancy services.

Legal advice was provided to the trustees by CMS and to Just Group by their in-house team.

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George Whitaker, deal lead at Broadstone, said: “I am pleased to have helped the Trustees and Charity achieve this significant milestone.

“When Broadstone was first appointed to provide actuarial and administration services in 2022, the Scheme had an estimated buy-out shortfall of over £3m.

“The transformation in under three years has been dramatic and is testament to the hard work of the Trustees, Charity and advisers during that period.

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“It is great to demonstrate once again that well-prepared schemes of all sizes can achieve a cost-effective insurance transaction in a busy market.”

Clare Viney, CEO of CRAC, said: “We were keen to complete this transaction to secure the benefits for our employees past and present but of course subject to ensuring value when using the charity’s reserves.

“Just was a natural place to start given our existing relationship, but what was really attractive was the ability to obtain more certainty on the likely contribution using the Beacon service.

“We are particularly grateful to Broadstone’s SM&RT Insure team for their expert guidance and support throughout this process, to ensure a smooth and efficient outcome.

“We extend our thanks to all parties involved for their support and collaboration.”

Rosie Mills, business development analyst at Just Group, said: “A repeat transaction with an existing client is always pleasing – it’s a strong endorsement that we are delivering great service and doing the right thing for members.

“We’re very pleased that our innovative price monitoring and bulk quotation service, Beacon, offered the trustees and charity the reassurance they needed to proceed.

“We enjoyed working with Broadstone and the trustees to secure the benefits for all the members of the CRAC Pension Scheme.

“It was a great example of there being a vibrant insurance de-risking market for schemes of all sizes and how Just are delivering outstanding service to small schemes, large schemes and everything in between.”

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