Partnership Assurance : Medically underwritten bulk annuity transaction

Partnership announces £206 million medically underwritten bulk annuity transaction

Partnership Assurance Group plc ('Partnership' or 'the Group') today announces that it has completed the UK's largest medically underwritten bulk annuity transaction.

The £206 million 'top-slicing' transaction provides a bulk annuity for a multi-billion pound UK pension scheme.

Partnership won the transaction following a competitive selection process. As the scheme's members have not yet been informed of the specifics of the transaction, further details of the scheme and its identity cannot be disclosed at this stage.

The first medically underwritten bulk annuity transaction in the UK was insured by Partnership in February 2013. During the course of 2014, Partnership has strengthened and extended its bulk annuity proposition and has actively promoted 'top slicing', which allows trustees to insure pensioners with the largest liabilities, who represent a disproportionate risk concentration for the scheme. Today's announcement demonstrates that even the largest schemes can benefit from Partnership's expertise founded on its unique intellectual property.

The pipeline of potential transactions has increased significantly during 2014, demonstrating the growing penetration of medically underwritten processes in the bulk annuity market.

Steve Groves, CEO, commented:

"I am delighted to announce the completion of the UK's largest medically underwritten bulk annuity transaction. At our investor day on 26 November, we described the significant market opportunity for defined benefit transactions and I am pleased to see our strengthened proposition and efforts to develop the bulk underwritten market starting to deliver results. 

"We have always cautioned that the nature of these processes means quarterly performance will be lumpy. However, this £206 million top-slicing transaction is a perfect example of how Partnership is able to bring the advantages of our unique intellectual property and underwriting expertise to trustees, corporates and pension scheme members within the growing UK defined benefit market. A top-slicing approach can be applied across the entire spectrum of DB pension scheme sizes, which significantly increases Partnership's addressable market. As we head into 2015, the pipeline of medically underwritten bulk annuities in the market remains strong."

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