The Safeway Pension Scheme has completed an £80m buy-in with Canada Life, insuring the benefits of over 350 deferred members and 1,450 pensioners.
The scheme is sponsored by Safeway Stores Limited, which is part of Morrison Supermarkets Group.
Aon acted as lead broker on the transaction for the scheme trustees, alongside being the scheme’s actuarial adviser.
Hymans Robertson was the investment adviser, while Clifford Chance and Gowling WLG provided the trustees with legal advice.
Canada Life was provided with legal advice by its in-house legal team.
Safeway Pension Scheme chair of the trustees, Steve Southern, commented: “As our sixth buy-in transaction, this is a significant milestone in our long term de risking journey and underlines the strong collaboration between the trustees and Morrison Supermarkets Group, working together through our joint working group to secure members’ benefits.”
Canada Life managing director, bulk purchase annuities, Shreyas Sridhar, said it had been a pleasure to support the scheme in reaching a buy-in deal and thanked the trustees for choosing Canada Life.
“Collaboration among all parties was vital to achieving an accelerated transaction process,” Sridhar continued.
“Working to a tight timescale, a joint working group held early admin preparation calls to ensure the scheme’s readiness, and efficient due diligence enabled swift completion of the agreement once Canada Life was exclusive as its insurer.”
Aon associate partner, James Staveley-Wadham, added: “We have worked with the Safeway Pension Scheme trustees on several stages of their de-risking journey, and this buy-in with Canada Life is another important milestone.
“The trustees have a highly engaged board, which allowed us to move swiftly while maintaining a clear focus on securing members’ benefits.”
The scheme previously completed a £1.4bn buy-in with Rothesay, securing the benefits of more than 22,500 members.
