Ten of 2019’s 153 bulk annuity transactions were worth more than £1bn, according to analysis by Willis Towers Watson.

However, the total number of deals completed during the year fell from 162 in 2018 and around 70 per cent of the deals written in 2019 covered liabilities of less than £100m.

Having completed the largest bulk annuity transaction, the record £4.7bn GEC 1972 Plan buyout, Rothesay Life was the firm with the greatest market share by premium received, coming in at 37 per cent.

Aviva completed the greatest number of deals, although 28 of these 54 transactions were under £10m and so the company’s market share stood at just 9 per cent.

Aviva, Legal & General, Phoenix Life, PIC and Rothesay Life each completed their largest ever bulk annuity transactions during the year.

In January, Hymans Robertson’s Risk Transfer Report found that the total value of UK deals completed in 2019 was more than £40bn, almost doubling the total amount from the year before.

Willis Towers Watson senior director of transactions, Shelly Beard, said: “With the significant increase in demand for bulk annuities, preparation is more important than ever, and this applies equally to small, medium and large schemes.

“For example, some of the very large transactions in 2019 were facilitated by the scheme having previously completed a longevity swap which could then be transferred to the insurer as part of the bulk annuity.”

This has continued into the new year, with the Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund (MNOPF) converting its pensioner longevity swap into a £1.6bn buy-in with the Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) in February.

Beard stated that “at the smaller end of the market, schemes were able to secure attractive pricing by following a well-run and agile process”, adding that measures included “adopting a streamlined approach to negotiations, being flexible in the timing of execution and working exclusively with an insurer much earlier in the process”.

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