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Rothesay Life to purchase £6bn of annuity portfolio from Aegon UK

11 April 2016

  • Rothesay Life purchases £6bn annuity portfolio from Aegon covering 187,000 policyholders, one of the largest transactions of its type in the UK
  • First substantial annuity transfer since Solvency II came into force in January 2016

Rothesay Life, one of the leading life insurers specialising in providing de-risking solutions to UK defined benefit pension schemes and other insurance companies, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to purchase £6bn of annuities from Scottish Equitable plc, the UK subsidiary of Aegon N.V.

The transaction has been structured initially as a reinsurance contract and is expected to lead to a Part VII transfer of the underlying assets and liabilities to Rothesay Life subject to regulatory and court approval. Capital support for the transaction has been provided by Rothesay Life’s shareholders.

This is Rothesay Life’s third transaction to reinsure an in-force portfolio in the past twelve months, including the company having reinsured £1.2bn of UK annuities from Zurich in 2015.

The transaction covers approximately 187,000 policyholders who will remain customers of Aegon and continue to be serviced by Aegon until the effective date of a Part VII Transfer.

Addy Loudiadis, Chief Executive and founder of Rothesay Life, said: "As a specialist provider of annuities, I am delighted that Aegon has chosen Rothesay Life to secure its policyholders’ pensions over the long term. This transaction represents a significant step for Rothesay Life taking total assets under management to over £20bn and total lives insured to over 400,000.” 

“The prevalence of non-core businesses in multi-line insurers is creating opportunities for Rothesay Life. With the market set to expand and strong support from our shareholders, Rothesay Life is well positioned to pursue these opportunities in addition to our ongoing bulk annuity business.”

For further information, please contact:

Temple Bar Advisory

Alex Child-Villiers or William Barker                                                            020 7002 1080

About Rothesay Life

Rothesay Life was established in 2007 and has become one of the leading providers of regulated insurance solutions in the UK market for pensions de-risking, making payments of around £900m a year from £20 billion of insurance contracts. This strong growth has been achieved through the steady accumulation of pension scheme clients and significant strategic acquisitions.

Existing Rothesay Life clients include Zurich UK Life and the pension schemes and members associated with such names as RSA, British Airways, Rank, Uniq, General Motors, the MNOPF (Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund), InterContinental Hotels, Philips, CAA and GKN.

Rothesay Life is a secure long-term provider of pensions, focused on

  • a flexible and committed approach to execution;
  • ongoing risk management to maintain balance sheet strength; and
  • robust operational processes.

Rothesay Life is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.