Rolls-Royce buys out retaining its admin team
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The Rolls-Royce UK Pension Fund has completed a £4.3bn full buyout of 36,000 members, nine months after its buy-in with Pension Insurance Corporation. The in-house administration team has moved to the scheme’s new admin partner, who opened a dedicated office.
PIC, owned by Athora, has appointed Brightwell as its administration partner. Brightwell has set up an office in Derby, where the existing Rolls-Royce administration team is based, taking the team on to ensure continuity.
“This has been an exceptionally smooth transition process, a remarkable achievement given the size of the scheme and the complexity of moving the administration at the same time,” said trustee chair Liz Airey.
Pete Rennalls, head of new business delivery at PIC, called the transition “a great example of what can be achieved with good preparation, expert partners, close working relationships, a supportive sponsor, and an unwavering focus on members’ needs”.
James Pearson, who heads up member services operations at Brightwell, said: “This has been a major collaborative effort. By retaining the existing Rolls-Royce administration team and combining that experience with our technology platform, we can continue to deliver a reliable and high‑quality service to policyholders on behalf of PIC.”
The new Derby office was officially opened by Labour MP for Derby South Baggy Shanker, who is a former Rolls-Royce employee.
Shanker said: “Rolls-Royce has both a proud history and bright future in Derby. I was pleased to visit Brightwell’s new Derby office, meet the team based here, and welcome skilled work being retained locally.”
Some industry professionals have warned of a ‘bottleneck’ in schemes moving from buy-in to buyout. Barnett Waddingham’s head of post-transaction and wind-up Beth Allison wrote earlier this year that just over half of buy-in transactions from 2021 and half of 2022 transactions had reached buyout. Fewer than a third (28%) of 2023 transactions had done so, falling to less than one in 10 (9%) for 2024 deals and just 2% for 2025 buy-ins.
Some industry professionals have warned of a ‘bottleneck’ in schemes moving from buy-in to buyout. Barnett Waddingham’s head of post-transaction and wind-up Beth Allison wrote earlier this year that just over half of buy-in transactions from 2021 and half of 2022 transactions had reached buyout. Fewer than a third (28%) of 2023 transactions had done so, falling to less than one in 10 (9%) for 2024 deals and just 2% for 2025 buy-ins.
