International law firm Gowling WLG's pensions team has advised the Trustee of the Legal & General Group UK Senior Scheme on an Assured Payment Policy (the APP) with Legal and General Assurance Society (LGAS). The transaction is valued at almost £400 million.
Under the APP, the Trustee has paid a premium in return for an undertaking from LGAS to make specific payments to the Scheme over the long-term, which transfers to LGAS various risks from the Scheme, excluding longevity and demographic risk.
The Gowling WLG legal advisory team was led by Jason Coates and comprised Maddy Frost and Frances Binns, as well as experts in the firm's wider financial services regulatory and tax teams.
Jason Coates, Head of Pensions at Gowling WLG, said: "This is another important milestone for the Scheme on its journey to de-risking and securing all members' benefits and we were pleased to play our part in helping the Trustee execute the deal."
Chris Martin of ITS, Chair of the Trustee, said, "The APP represents a very significant moment in the Scheme's lifetime as we move closer to securing our members' benefits. We were very grateful to our advisers, including the Gowling WLG team, for their guidance and support through this transaction."
The Trustee's advisory team also included LCP, Redington and Premier Pensions.
The Gowling WLG pensions team has a market-leading Pensions Risk Transfer practice that has advised on many of the industry's significant deals over the last few years. It is currently working on two longevity swaps and a second capital-backed solution, as well as potential PPF+ transactions and those involving 'superfunds', and a number of insurance buy-ins and buy-outs.