The ICI Pension Fund has completed a £70m buy-in with Legal & General (L&G) Assurance Society, marking the 17th buy-in completed by the scheme as part of its de-risking journey.

This latest deal means that almost £9bn of pensioner liabilities have been secured by the trustees since 2014.

The trustee was advised throughout the transaction by LCP and Allen & Overy, whilst L&G received legal advice from Eversheds Sutherland.

The buy-in, which secured benefits for new retiree members of the scheme and completed in May, marks the scheme’s ninth transaction with L&G, with a combined total of £5.8bn of liabilities secured.

The scheme entered into its first buy-in arrangement with L&G in 2014, establishing an umbrella contract to facilitate further transactions, as part of the scheme’s long-term de-risking plan.

This umbrella contract structure subsequently allowed L&G to approach the trustee of the scheme earlier in the year, when market volatility presented favourable pricing opportunities, as well as allowing the scheme itself to move quickly to take advantage of this.

This is not the first time that the umbrella contract has seen the scheme take advantage of “favourable market conditions”, with a £750m buy-in in July 2016 having previously been completed within just two weeks of the Brexit referendum result.

Commenting on the transaction, ICI Pension Fund CEO, Heath Mottram, stated: “This latest transaction demonstrates the value of our umbrella contract with L&G and highlights what can be achieved by trustees with thorough preparation, the right experienced advisors and a clear decision making framework.”

L&G Retirement Institutional origination & execution director, Dominic Moret, added: “Today’s announcement adds to a relationship that has already secured a significant proportion of the fund’s liabilities – larger than any single buy-in transaction in the market.

“This latest transaction demonstrates how an umbrella contract structure and a collaborative working relationship can benefit all parties if trustees are set up to react to favourable pricing opportunities during times of market volatility.”

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