Press Releases

The Aviva Staff Pension Scheme (the “Scheme”) has completed a £875 million buy-in with Aviva Life & Pensions UK Ltd (“Aviva”) covering the Scheme’s liabilities in respect of c.2,800 members. This is the second buy-in with Aviva following a £1.7bn buy-in in 2019 and a £5bn longevity swap in 2014. Hymans Robertson acted as lead adviser to the Scheme.

“If RPI is aligned with CPIH from 2030 this will be a major blow both for pension schemes and their members. Many pension scheme members will be expected to get lower pension increases due to this change. It is common for pension schemes to pay pension increases linked to RPI so lowering the future rate of growth in RPI lowers the pension increases pensioners will receive." 

This ruling addresses the thorny issue of pension schemes picking up the tab for GMP equalisation for past transfer values. This should be good news for some of those who took a transfer value as they may now be in line for a top up payment. However, the effort involved in revisiting transfers paid out by pension schemes across the industry over the last 30 years will be a very significant challenge for schemes, and in many cases historical data will not be available.

Today’s guidance is particularly timely given the current backdrop. It’s a reminder to trustees of the value of early contingency planning and being ready to act before it’s too late and we are supportive of the Regulator putting more emphasis on managing these issues. Trustees might not think that they’ll ever face this situation, but the risk of sponsor insolvency is very real.

We accept that Government has the power to amend LGPS benefits, and had flagged up in last year’s General Election that a £95k exit payment cap would be brought in. However, there are a number of clear and widespread concerns which remain forefront in our mind. Firstly, the manner of communication of the various reform proposals have demonstrated a lack of joined-up thinking in Government.

The 2020 Master Trust Default Report shows retirement outcomes for members in Master Trusts are likely to be back on track, relative to their position at the start of 2020.

Nearly three quarters of DB schemes (70%) would not meet TPR’s fast track requirements according to analysis undertaken by Hymans Robertson. Using the funding plans of a representative sample of clients, the leading pensions and benefits consultancy found that less than a third of schemes (30%) would pass all four of the proposed Fast Track tests on the Long Term Objective, technical provisions, recovery plan and investment risk

Hymans Robertson has been working with Marks & Spencer on the de-risking strategy for the pension scheme, working collaboratively with the Trustee and its advisers.

“We agree with the ambition this consultation is trying to achieve and welcome any change which raises the average level of governance. However we remain concerned that the challenges to meeting the government’s timetable for change – provider bandwidth, small schemes not being able to find a master trust to transfer to, loss of legacy guarantees and technical issues such as contracting-out underpins – have been underestimated.

Fewer schemes needed to lengthen their recovery plan end dates in 2019 than in the previous year according to new analysis from Hymans Robertson. It looked in detail at the TPR ‘tranche 13’ valuations and discovered that only a third (32%) of schemes increased the length of their recovery plan, compared to half (50%) of schemes that had to this in the previous year (2018). 

Arguing for the need for the triple lock to be retained, as it is used to calculate State pension in 2021, Chris Noon, Partner, Hymans Robertson says:

Commenting on TPRs new guidance for trustees and employers considering a DB superfund Alistair Russell-Smith, Head of Corporate DB, Hymans Robertson, says: