The Church of Scotland Pension Trustees have concluded a £75m buy-in for two of their three defined benefit schemes.    

The transaction was completed in December 2024 with Just Group and insures the benefits of three sections across two DB schemes, insuring the liabilities of about 1,500 pensioners and dependants and 850 deferred members.   

The transactions include a c.£40m buy-in for the Social Care Council Section and a roughly £25m buy-in for the Central Services Committee Section of the Church of Scotland Pension Scheme for Staff. In addition, a £10m buy-in was made for the Church of Scotland Pension Scheme for Ministries Development Staff. The Ministers and Overseas Missionaries fund, which in 2023 had the highest funding levels across three sections, was not included in the deal. In 2024, the trustees applied generous discretionary increases to the benefits of that scheme including on pre-1997 service, having a unilateral power to do so.  

In late 2023, the three DB schemes of the Church covered 4,500 members with combined assets of £352m.   

Independent trustee Ray Martin chaired a trustee sub-group for the project. He said: “This was an important step for the trustees in reducing the risk of the schemes to the Church, now that the benefits of all members are fully secured with a strongly capitalised UK insurer.”  

Just business development manager Geraint Jones said: “This was an interesting multi-scheme transaction for which we put together a competitive offering that included a bespoke price lock. The scheme also prioritised long-term member experience and we are pleased to be trusted to look after the schemes’ members for many years to come.” 

Just completed 129 transactions last year, calling it a record for the industry. 

The trustees were advised by consultancy LCP.  

The Church of Scotland’s pension schemes, currently chaired by Stuart Stephen, became fully funded in 2021 and aligned their investment strategies as a result. They target 0.3% above the liability matching assets by mainly holding low-risk assets, alongside 4% growth assets, and keeping a full interest rate and inflation hedge.  

 

 

In 2023, the CrossReach section of the Staff pension fund exited two Local Government Pension Scheme funds when markets were favourable. According to the General Assembly report 2024, CrossReach – the Church’s social care council – received a net cash benefit of about £3.5m from this, which more than made up for the organisation’s deficit.  

What tends to tip the decision about whether to buy in or run a scheme on for longer?