EUROPE – The Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has announced the completion of a £400m (€491m) transaction with Luxembourg-based fund Reinet after more than a year of negotiations, while its founder has stepped down from the board of directors.

Back in July, Reinet said it would invest as much as £400m in UK-based Pension Corporation's pensions insurance business, subject to regulatory approval.

PIC, which announced the completion of the deal this week, plans to use the investment to back its growth in the market for pension insurance buyouts and buy-ins at a time when the trustees and sponsors of defined benefit pension funds in the UK are seeking to de-risk their schemes.

The most recent transaction saw PIC agree a £320m pensioner buy-in with the Cookson Group pension plan.

Sir Mark Weinberg, chairman at PIC, said: "It is a rare business which is able to raise this amount of money in the current market conditions.

"This investment represents a significant vote of confidence in Pension Insurance Corporation's management team and its focus on putting the customer at the heart of everything we do."

Additionally, the investment provided by Reiner will lead to a reshape of the executive board, with new directors joining the company.

Bill Winters, founder of Renshaw Bay and former co-chief executive at JP Morgan Investment Bank; Harriet Maunsell, formerly a senior partner at Lovells and chairman of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra); Chris McKechnie, managing director for principal investments at Swiss Re; and Eloy Michotte, director of Reinet Fund Manager, have all been appointed to the board.

A spokesman from PIC also confirmed to IPE that PIC's founder, Edmund Truell, had stepped down from the board of directors to focus on new projects.

Truell, who also founded private equity firm, Duke Street Capital, announced earlier this year he would launch a £500m fund with his brother Danny that would target financial services businesses such as banks, asset managers and insurers, in north-west Europe.

Sir Martin Jacomb and Bob Scott are both retiring from PIC's board, whilst Graham Cooper will remain with the company, focusing his efforts on developing PIC's longevity reinsurance capabilities.

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