RAC pension scheme completes £1.3bn buy-in

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The RAC (2003) Pension Scheme has completed a full buy-in insuring £1.3bn of liabilities for roughly 19,000 members.  

The transaction with Aviva was completed in August and includes the novation of an existing longevity swap and a transfer of illiquid assets, according to the insurer.  

RAC was owned by Aviva until 2011, when it was sold to private equity firm the Carlyle Group for £1bn, but Aviva retained the RAC scheme. There is a single trustee board for all schemes sponsored by Aviva, chaired by Brian Bussell.

Bussell thanked the advisers and in-house team, and said: “We are delighted to have completed this complex transaction covering all the benefits due to members of the RAC (2003) Pension Scheme, providing them with the additional security of a full scheme buy-in.”   

The trustees were advised by Hymans Robertson and took legal advice from Linklaters. Hymans partner Iain Pearce said transactions of this size “inevitably have a number of complexities”, referring to the longevity swap conversion.   

Andy Morley, senior deal manager at Aviva, agreed the transaction was “complex and required the expertise and commitment of all parties”.  

Last month, Aviva completed the largest deal of 2024 so far, a £1.5bn buy-in with the Michelin Pension and Life Assurance Plan which involved an in-specie transfer of assets. In June, it also completed a £200bn transaction with the Merseyside Pension Fund covering liabilities of bus company Arriva Merseyside. 
   
 

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