Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has launched a streamlined service designed to support small pension schemes (with assets less than £100m) looking to complete buyout.

The launch follows a rise in gilt yields over the past two years, which has resulted in around 800 small schemes being fully funded for buyout and an annual average of 200 various sized bulk annuity deals being conducted, with 250 deals completed in 2023.

The new service, called Mosaic, offers price monitoring and standard processes and contracts to give schemes a "straightforward, efficient" way of securing member benefits.

Mosaic also includes resource to help with all stages of the transaction and the post-buyout transition.

Commenting on the launch, PIC chief origination officer, Mitul Magudia, said: “We are keen to continue providing insurance for the whole of the market.

“By making the buyout process more straightforward and efficient, whilst establishing dedicated resources to maintain our customer service offering, Mosaic will provide additional capacity to the smaller end of the market and give schemes an additional attractive option to achieve their objectives in the buyout market.”

Support for smaller schemes in the buy-in and buyout market has been growing, as Aviva also launched a streamlined bulk purchase annuity service for smaller schemes earlier this month.

---