Small buy-ins rise 30%
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Total buy-in and buyout volume transacted fell more than 20% to £38.2bn in 2025, but deals of less than £100m rose more than 30% year on year, driven almost entirely by smaller pension schemes, a new report has found, while longevity hedging volumes reached £18.8bn last year.
The number of small schemes insured has risen steadily to triple from 100 schemes to more than 300 between 2021 and 2025, driving the overall number of transactions to a record high of 370 for 2025, an increase of more than 20% compared with the previous year, the latest bulk annuity and longevity hedging report by Hymans Robertson suggests.
Risk transfer partner at Hymans, Michael Abramson, said while the drop in volume transacted will have left some insurers disappointed, it hides a growing derisking trend in smaller pension schemes.
Risk transfer partner at Hymans, Michael Abramson, said while the drop in volume transacted will have left some insurers disappointed, it hides a growing derisking trend in smaller pension schemes.
“This is a result of both improved pension scheme funding levels and intense insurer competition,” Abramson said. “Recent insurer M&A activity has reduced the number of market participants from 11 to 10, but it has also brought new capital and asset sourcing capabilities into the market. We expect that this will bring excess supply relative to demand from pension schemes, which is likely to continue to provide attractive pricing opportunities for schemes that are seeking to insure.”
Insurer acquisitions include Just Group being bought by Brookfield Wealth Solutions. The Canadian investment firm also owns the relatively new bulk annuity insurer Blumont, which is expected to operate under the Just brand. Meanwhile, Apollo-backed Athora Group has entered the UK market buying Pension Insurance Corporation, which will continue to operate under its own brand.
Of the insurers active in the market, those with the greatest appetite for small deals – less than £50m – are Just, Aviva and Utmost. Once past the £50m mark, Royal London and Canada Life are also likely to quote.
Schemes in the £100m to £500m bracket are most likely to receive quotes from insurers, according to Hymans. Above £500m, insurers able to quote start to diminish, and for schemes of more than £2bn, only three firms – Legal & General, Rothesay and PIC – are likely to provide a quote.
Last year, the average deal value was £24m at Just, £30m at Utmost and £54m at Aviva, followed by £85m at Royal London and £87m at Canada Life. Despite the smaller average deal value, Aviva achieved a 12% market share – ahead of Standard Life – while Just had an 8% share of the market last year.
L&G topped the volumes table with deals worth £10.2bn, giving it a 27% market share, according to Hymans, followed by PIC at £6.8bn - 18% of the market - and Rothesay at £5.2bn (14% market share).
On the longevity hedging side, volume more than doubled from £7.9bn to £18.8bn last year – a significant level, albeit not quite at the 2014 and 2020 highs. In the second half of 2025, four longevity swaps totalling £11bn were completed, including a £6bn deal for the BBC Pension Scheme with Zurich and MetLife, following a £3bn deal in the second half of 2020.
