Utmost Life and Pensions has confirmed that it has entered the UK pension bulk purchase annuity (BPA) market, having successfully transacted with two external pension schemes in Q4 2024.

The company initially announced plans to enter the BPA market last year, having since appointed new leadership and built a team of over 20 people focussed on BPA to develop a "strong and credible" offering a new choice for pension schemes.

Building on the company's existing annuity business, Utmost Life and Pensions said that it developed the offering to address the significant demand for pension risk transfer in the UK, with the BPA market expected to generate over £400bn in volumes over the next decade.

According to the company, it has already established a "strong pipeline" for 2025, with a target market share of over 5 per cent within five years.

To support this growth, Utmost Life and Pensions also partnered with Schroders and Mantle Services.

These partnerships are expected to enable the company to provide an efficient onboarding process, in-house client administration, market leading asset management, and seamless migration from buy-in to buyout.

This next phase is being led by Utmost Life and Pensions' new chief executive officer, Andrew Stoker, who was appointed following the retirement of Stephen Shone.

Stoker most recently the chief financial officer at Rothesay, a position he held for nine years.

Commenting on the news, Utmost Group group chief executive officer, Paul Thompson, said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank Stephen for his contribution to Utmost and for being instrumental in pivoting Utmost Life and Pensions from a closed book life consolidator to an active participant in the BPA sector.

"Andrew’s experience will be invaluable in continuing to strengthen our offering and further penetrating the large and attractive bulk purchase annuity market. It is pleasing to see that external pension schemes are already recognising the valuable addition that Utmost is making to the sector.”

Adding to this, Stoker said: "Since joining Utmost, I have been impressed by the calibre of the team and its strong ethos of customer service.

"Utmost Life and Pensions now has a strong platform for competing in the BPA market and we are building a compelling proposition for pension scheme trustees and members. I am excited by the opportunity to lead the next phase of Utmost’s BPA strategy."

---