The Harrods Group Pension Plan has secured benefits of around 1,900 pensioners and 2,100 deferred members through a £400m buy-in agreement with Scottish Widows.

XPS acted as lead transaction adviser, while legal advice to the trustees was provided by CMS. Scottish Widows was advised by DLA Piper.

Trustee chair David Fripp said that in completing this insurance transaction the Harrods pension plan achieved “added protection in relation to longevity risk to further enhance members’ benefit security”.

And despite a “really busy bulk annuity market”, head of risk settlement at XPS, Stephen Purves, said the transaction was able to generate “significant competitive tension with insurers”.

Matt Wilmington, head of origination and structuring at Scottish Widows, said: “Working closely and constructively with the trustee and its advisers we were able to insure the benefits of around 1,900 pensioners and 2,100 deferred members of the plan, providing increased security for the members and reducing financial risk for the sponsor.”

The deal comes a week after Scottish Widows completed a buy-in deal with Aegon pension scheme worth £160m.

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Pamela is IPE's UK correspondent. Before joining IPE in May 2023, she spent five years writing about the insurance industry. During her career so far she won awards for Most Promising Newcomer in 2020 and Best Investigative Article in 2022 from the British Insurance Brokers Association, and was also highly commended at the WTW Media Awards for Insurance Features Journalist of The Year.View full Profile

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