The trustees of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Staff Retirement Benefits & Life Assurance Scheme have completed a £35m full scheme buy-in with Aviva, covering the benefits of all 300 members of the scheme.

The buy-in was agreed in June, following a “robust” process to review the insurance market.

Barnett Waddingham acted as actuarial, administration, investment and risk transfer adviser, while legal advice was provided to the trustees by Gowling WLG.

ICE Staff Retirement Benefits & Life Assurance Scheme chair of trustees, Stephen Fox, said the trustees were “delighted” to have completed this transaction with Aviva, improving the security of the scheme’s benefits.

Fox added: “I would like to thank the trustees, both past and present, for their hard work in reaching this goal.

“I am also very thankful to the ICE who have provided significant financial support to the scheme over many years, over and beyond what was strictly necessary, without which this transaction would not have been possible.

“Our advisers, Barnett Waddingham and Gowling WLG, have been our partners for more than 10 years and have been instrumental in getting us to this point and successfully achieving this goal.”

Adding to this, Aviva bulk purchase annuity deal manager, Paul Donnelly, said: “From our initial discussion with the scheme’s trustees and their advisers, we knew they had a clear plan to secure the scheme for the beneficiaries and we are delighted they selected us as a de-risking partner.

“The transaction completed within six weeks from the initial quote request. The speed of the transaction was thanks to the combination of careful preparation, and close collaboration from all parties.”

ICE director general & secretary, Janet Young, said that the deal is a “great” outcome for those that are part of the scheme, the ICE trustees, and the institution.

“The benefits of the scheme are even safer than they were before, and the scheme becomes much more straightforward and less risky to manage,” Young continued.

“We have worked closely with our trustees and advisors for many years to support the scheme and are pleased to have supported them in completing this transaction.”

“We are delighted to have led this transaction. We’ve worked with the ICE scheme trustees over many years, and it has been a pleasure to help them achieve this transaction,” Barnett Waddingham head of bulk annuities and risk transfer partner, Rosie Fantom, added.

“Our sincere thanks to the trustees, the ICE, all advisers, and Aviva for collaborating so effectively in this project.”

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