Marvin OnumonuRoyal London hit £1bn of liabilities insured in its bulk purchase annuity (BPA) business after completing an £85m buy-in with The College of Law Pension and Assurance Scheme.
The deal, agreed in March 2025, marked Royal London’s ninth buy-in since it entered the BPA market in September 2024.
Hymans Robertson and Linklaters advised the trustees, who were led by Tiziana Perrella at Dalriada Trustees. Royal London took advice from Hogan Lovells.
The business wrote £600m of premium across two deals with its own pension schemes in November 2023 and January 2024, and another £400m with external pension schemes.
Mark Sharkey at Royal London said: “We’re thrilled to reach this important milestone as a business with The College of Law Pension and Assurance Scheme transaction.
“We’ve been in discussions with Tiziana and the wider Trustee Board since late last year.
“It was a real team effort with them and Hymans Robertson to ensure everything was ready for when the ‘affordability stars’ aligned.”
Sharkey added: “Our clearly differentiated proposition in the BPA market continues to really resonate with trustees.
“We’re excited to welcome this Trustee Board and their 500 members to the Royal London family and show them our mutual-led ambition in action.”
Claire O’Neill, senior risk transfer consultant at Hymans Robertson, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with the Trustees over many years on their de-risking journey.
“Diligent preparation has meant that the Trustees were well-placed to move quickly to capture the opportunity to insure members’ benefits at an accelerated pace.
“We look forward to continuing to support the Trustees in the important post-transaction work.”
Tiziana Perrella of Dalriada Trustees, said: “The Trustees worked closely with their advisers and Royal London, navigating a period of significant market volatility, and were delighted to complete a final buy-in with Royal London so that scheme liabilities are now fully covered by insurance contracts.
“The Trustees conducted an in-depth due diligence analysis of Royal London’s financial position and administration capabilities as part of their decision-making process and were satisfied that they were a robust and reliable counterparty for the transaction.”
