Canada Life UK has completed a £330 million plan-wide buy-in deal with Comet Pension Plan, ensuring future benefits for 4,500 pension plan members.
According to Canada Life UK, the sponsoring employer of the Comet Pension Plan is part of Fnac Darty, Europe’s top omni-channel retailer of electronics, appliances, culture and leisure products.
The scheme was originally established in 2004 when Comet was spun off from Kingfisher, before being merged into Fnac Darty in 2016.
LCP was appointed by the sponsoring company as lead risk transfer advisor and broker for the transaction and worked closely with XPS as risk transfer advisor to the trustee. The parties work with Canada Life to provide buy-in solutions tailored to the needs of the plan and its sponsors.
XPS is the actuary and administrator of the plan, Eversheds Sutherland is acting as adviser to the trustees, Macfarlanes is acting as adviser to Fnac Darty and CMS is acting as legal adviser to Canada Life.
Shreyas Sridhar, Managing Director of Bulk Purchase Annuities at Canada Life UK, commented: “I am delighted that Canada Life UK has been selected by the Comet Pension Scheme Trustees and Fnac Darty as the scheme’s pension de-risking partner, and I thank them for their confidence in the strength and expertise of Canada Life UK and our global parent company, Great West-Lifeco, to deliver a gold standard customer experience to their members.
“This deal is a great example of what can be achieved through collaboration and how focused planning by all parties involved can deliver positive long-term benefits for scheme members.”
Ian Edwards, Chairman of the Plan Trustees, said: “The Trustees are pleased to have entered into a collaborative process with our sponsor and Fnac Darty, which has enabled us to leverage increased funding levels to complete this successful buy-in transaction with Canada Life, which will provide long-term security for the interests of our members.”
Jean-Brieuc Le-Tinier, Chief Financial Officer of Fnac Darty, noted: “This agreement with the UK Pension Trustees represents an important step in our long-term strategy. Working closely with the trustees, we have taken on this risk without affecting the group’s cash position and secured the interests of our members with a leading insurance company. We are pleased to have completed this transaction in favorable market conditions.”
Charlie Finch, partner and lead risk transfer advisor at LCP, added: “I am delighted to be able to help the scheme achieve this important milestone, providing cost certainty for Fnac Darty and long-term security for former Comet employees.
“This is a highly competitive brokerage process and this is a consistent pattern we are seeing towards the end of the year and we expect this to continue next year, providing sponsors with the opportunity to reduce risk in their DB pension schemes.”
