Thomas Miller & Co have completed a £140m full buy-in with Aviva, securing the benefits of all scheme members.
The transaction is the culmination of “many years” of prudent management by the trustee which designed and implement a strategy to target full funding using the significant contributions from the employer, alongside strong investment returns to gradually reduce the risk in the scheme and so improve the secure outcomes for its members.
A joint buy-in committee was established in 2023 to manage the approach to insurers and Aviva was selected after a competitive process.
The transaction removes any residual investment risk as well as the longevity risk for the Scheme. According to the scheme, members will see no change in the amount of their benefits or the way in which they are paid as a result of the transaction.
The transaction was led by LCP, who are also the Scheme’s actuarial and investment consultants with legal advice provided by Reed Smith.
Daniel Barlow of Law Debenture, chair of the trustee of the scheme, said the transaction went “very smoothly” as a result of the thorough preparation, strong governance and excellent collaboration between all stakeholders.
He said: “This resulted in an extremely positive response from the market and has led to improved security for our members and greater certainty for the sponsoring employer.”
Toby Holmes, senior deal manager at Aviva, added: “We are pleased to have been selected by the Trustee to help Thomas Miller with this buy-in transaction.
“This transaction highlights the strength of the Aviva brand and provides further evidence of our commitment as a whole of market insurer.”
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