Advising on full scheme buy-in: Standard Life and Rolls-Royce & Bentley Pension Fund

The Rolls Royce and Bentley Pension Fund covers 6,000 members whose benefits were secured by a £880m Bulk Purchase Annuity transaction with Standard Life. The buy-in included novation of the Scheme’s existing longevity swap with Standard Life, originally executed in 2013.

Isio acted as lead transaction adviser to the Trustee and Scheme Actuary to the Scheme.

Our Solution

The transaction achieved multiple objectives, primarily reducing the risks associated with the Scheme, and was worked on collaboratively in a Joint Working Group with the Trustee and the Company.

Throughout the transaction we demonstrated the value of an integrated approach, leveraging expertise from teams across Isio to shape our solution.

Our Insurance team provided specialist knowledge of the insurance market, competitive pricing and contractual commitments that could be sought, together with a cost-benefit analysis on the options available for the longevity swap.

With the help of our Data team, we collaborated with the third-party administrator on data cleansing over a six-month period to prepare for the transaction, receiving feedback from Standard Life that the Scheme was very well prepared.

Following the transaction, our Engagement and Communications team delivered a communications strategy for scheme members and key stakeholders.

Improvements in financial confidence 

Through our integrated approach, leveraging our breadth of market expertise and ability to adapt to various challenges along the way, a buy-in transaction was achieved, resulting in improved security for all members.