Five Top Law Firms Lead On £1.4B UBS Pension Deal
The 'de-risking' deal was agreed between the UBS pension scheme and insurers Zurich and Canada Life.
July 08, 2020 at 06:53 AM
2 minute read
UBS. Image: Bloomberg, Angel Garcia
A raft of top firms including Allen & Overy and Herbert Smith Freehills have been called upon to assist on a £1.4 billion pension deal orchestrated by investment bank UBS.
The 'longevity swap' deal – which is being overseen by the trustee of the UBS U.K. pension and life assurance scheme – covers "the majority" of the scheme's defined benefit pensioners, and was arranged with Zurich as insurer and Canada Life as reinsurer, according to an announcement by Mercer, who acted as an investment adviser to the trustee.
The purpose of a longevity swap is to transfer the risk of pension scheme members living longer than expected from pension schemes to an insurer.
Allen & Overy acted as legal transactional counsel for the deal, the announcement said.
In addition, the trustee was advised by Gowling WLG, along with Canadian outfit Osler Hoskin & Harcourt.
Pinsent Masons and HSF advised Zurich and Canada Life respectively, with a team led by corporate partner Madhu Jain, while the HSF team was led by corporate counsel, Grant Murtagh assisted by insurance partner Geoff Maddock.
As part of these swap agreements, pension scheme trustees pay a fixed series of payments, representing the expected benefits payable under the pension scheme as well as an additional fee. In return, the insurer pays out the benefits that actually take place, based on the scheme's mortality rate.
A number of longevity swap agreements have taken place in recent years. In January, A&O, Eversheds Sutherland and CMS picked up roles on a de-risking deal for Lloyds Banking Group Pension Trustees worth £10 billion.
In Septmber 2019, Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Sackers & Partners advised on a longevity swap worth £7 billion between HSBC Bank UK Pension Scheme and Prudential Financial.
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