The Tui Group UK Pension Trust has agreed two pension risk transfer deals with Legal & General (L&G) Assurance Society, comprising a £610m partial buy-in for the BAL section and a £184m full buy-in for the TAPS section of the scheme.

The transactions are the scheme's first pension risk transfer deals with L&G, and covers two of the three pension sections within the scheme.

The trustee was advised on the transaction by LCP, with legal advice provided by Linklaters, whilst Tui was advised by Isio and Herbert Smith Freehills, and L&G was advised by Eversheds Sutherland.

Commenting on the news, Pan Trustees chair of the trustee board, Mike Roberts, said: “We are very pleased that this transaction has successfully concluded at attractive pricing, closing the gap to being fully funded and providing increased security of benefits for members of the scheme.

“Working with the support of Tui, we ran a thorough process to select L&G and we are delighted to have achieved such a positive step for the benefit of our membership.”

Adding to this, LCP partner, Imogen Cothay, explained the market volatility stemming from Covid-19 had provided a "springboard" for trustees to take a "significant step" towards reaching their long-term goal of full insurance.

“We’re delighted to have helped the trustee successfully reach this milestone, and achieve pricing which surpassed the trustee’s original expectations," she said.

L&G Retirement Institutional origination and execution director, Adrian Somerfield, added: “We are pleased to have insured two sections of the scheme and hope that today’s announcement will provide additional reassurance and security to the pension scheme members.

"We look forward to continuing to work with the trustee in the future.”

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