The £18bn pension fund of oil major BP has completed a £1.6bn buy-in, while a dispute with its pensioner members continues. Separately, the Amtico Company Pension Scheme has agreed a £52m transaction for 425 members. Deals totalling more than £40bn are expected this year, a new report suggests. 

The BP scheme chose Legal & General for the buy-in, which is the fund’s first transaction. Trustee chair Brendan Nelson said: “This buy-in follows a detailed review of the options available to support the fund’s derisking journey and hence the security of members’ accrued benefits.”   

L&G provided a gilts-based price lock to facilitate the deal. The insurer’s chief executive institutional retirement, Andrew Kail, said: “A huge thanks to everyone involved for their hard work on the transaction, and to the trustee for its positive engagement during a thorough selection and implementation process.” 

BP pensioners had previously threatened legal action and lobbied MPs when the company declined to give discretionary pension uplifts beyond 5% retail prices index in 2023, despite a scheme surplus. The pensioners were also concerned that a buyout was in the offing which could render lower pension increases permanent. 

 

 
In response to the buy-in, a spokesperson for the BP Pensioner Group, which comprises more than 3,000 members of the BP Pension Fund, said: “We are disappointed that the trustee is focused on transferring fund assets to insurance companies while pensions paid to members have been eroded by 11% despite the fund having a record surplus of almost £4bn."

"Buy-in arrangements are often the precursor to the full buyout of the members’ fund by an insurance company. It is important that trustees keep members fully informed of any plans they may have to transfer their fund to a third-party,” the spokesperson added.

Fund members, having gone through the internal dispute resolution process, are now preparing a Pensions Ombudsman complaint.

The much smaller Amtico scheme, for the vinyl flooring company, chose Standard Life for its £52m transaction, which completed in August and covers 425 members. 

Amtico became a Standard Life client in 2015 through a trust-based pension that later moved to the Standard Life Master Trust. As part of the buy-in, members of the Amtico Company Pension Scheme who have both defined benefit and defined contribution pensions will retain the link between these two benefits.   

On Wednesday, Aviva revealed a similar arrangement had been agreed with the SG Pension Fund, whose DC members were already in the firm’s master trust when the DB scheme was bought in.

   

   

Amtico's pension trustee chair Bill Newman said: “Amtico and Standard Life have developed an effective mutual relationship which has improved pension outcomes for members of our DC scheme in the Standard Life Master Trust. Now, the recent buy-in transaction will secure the DB scheme and ensure that members’ pensions are administered by a trusted partner going forward.”  

Alex Oakley, BPA transaction manager at Standard Life, said about the deal: “It’s a strong example of how continuity and collaboration can drive successful outcomes for pension schemes. In this case, it’s rewarding to support the needs of employers with both DB and DC schemes, and in doing so, ensure members have a more integrated and streamlined retirement planning experience,” he said. 

The announcements come as Aon’s Risk Settlement Market Update H1 2025 finds that £9.7bn was transacted in 160 deals in the first six months, with another £16bn of buy-ins and buyouts revealed since then. The consultancy predicts that volumes could exceed £40bn this year. Last year’s total was £47.7bn, while a record £49.1bn was written in 2023.  

A greater number of insurers are competing for risk transfers of less than £100m, which made up 87% of transactions in the first half of the year, the report says. Aviva, Just Group and L&G wrote four in five of all sub-£100m deals, while new market entrants also secured some.   

There are now 11 firms active in the bulk annuity market. However, Brookfield’s acquisition of Just Group could reduce this to 10, as Aon expects a merger of the teams of Just and Blumont, which is another subsidiary of the Canadian investment firm.