UK roundup: Railway schemes to offer flexible retirement

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Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited, the trustee of the Railways Pension Schemes, with the support of its administrator RPMI Limited (RPMI), has appointed Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) to provide its members access to a drawdown arrangement within the Legal & General WorkSave Mastertrust.

For the first time, the railways pension schemes will offer its defined contribution (DC) members access to a flexible retirement solution, the scheme announced.

Defined benefit (DB) members who want to use their additional voluntary contribution benefits more flexibly will also be able to use the arrangement, it added.

The Legal & General WorkSave Mastertrust will provide members with access to a competitive, bundled drawdown arrangement, underpinned by the flagship Retirement Income Multi Asset Fund.

Chris Hannon, chair of the trustee board, said: “We know that more members are exercising pensions freedoms than ever before, and an increasing number are using drawdown arrangements.”

Historically, he said, members would have been exposed to the open market where finding the right product can be difficult, and charging structures may be penal.

The new retirement option offers a competitively priced product and allows members to benefit from the scale and expertise of Legal and General, Hannon added.

The new arrangement launched on 30 April 2021 and is underpinned by new online guidance content to help members understand their options.

QinetiQ buy-in deal with Legal & General

The QinetiQ Pension Scheme has completed a £130m (€152m) buy-in transaction with Legal & General Assurance Society Limited.

The deal covers the pension benefits for more than 390 new retirees since a previous pensioner buy-in in April 2019 with Scottish Widows.

As part of the new agreement, an umbrella contract was established, which enables future transactions with Legal & General to be completed quickly and easily on the same pre-agreed terms when favourable pricing opportunities arise, Legal & General announced.

This is the scheme’s first buy-in transaction with Legal & General.

Lisa Mundy of BESTrustees which acts as chair of the scheme’s trustees, said: “This further step on the scheme’s journey increases the security of the benefits of all our scheme members.”

She added that with the deal, the scheme was able to reduce its risks whilst also expanding its framework for future de-risking.

The scheme appointed LCP as a specialist de-risking adviser, acting as lead adviser for the transaction. Burges Salmon provided the scheme with legal advice, while Clifford Chance was Legal & General’s legal adviser.

CAB International picks Aon as admin of pension fund

CAB International (CABI), an international, inter-governmental, not-for-profit organisation established by a United Nations treaty-level agreement, has appointed Aon to provide administration services to its pension scheme.

CABI uses information and scientific expertise to solve agricultural and environmental problems across the globe. Its 50 member countries, which include the UK, China, India, South Africa, Kenya, Jamaica and Canada, form an international network with each having an equal role in determining governance, policy and strategy. Its pension scheme has 1,250 members.

Kate Hardingham of Ross Trustees and the CABI pension scheme chair, said: “Having completed the transition of our pensions administration to Aon, we’ve been delighted with the management of the project, and we are excited to introduce Aon’s PensionLine web portal to our members to really enhance their interaction with the scheme.”