L&G wins ?2.5bn bulk annuity contract

RNS Number : 1267Y

Legal & General Group Plc

27 November 2014

 



LEGAL & GENERAL WINS £2.5BN TRW PENSION SCHEME BULK ANNUITY CONTRACT

Legal & General Group Plc (Legal & General) has today announced a bulk annuity contract with the TRW Pension Scheme (the Scheme) removing £2.5 billion liabilities from TRW Automotive's balance sheet and insuring over 22,000 of the Scheme's pensioners. 

The Scheme previously implemented a liability driven investment strategy with Legal & General Investment Management in 2007.

This £2.5 billion transaction follows the £3.0 billion bulk annuity contract with the ICI Pension Fund that Legal & General secured earlier this year, reinforcing Legal & General's position as the leading insurer in tailored pension de-risking solutions for large pension schemes.

Legal & General has now written £8.3 billion of total annuity transactions to date in 2014. Our Q3 Interim Management Statement on 4 November 2014 stated, at that time, we had secured £0.8 billion of bulk premium in the fourth quarter. This £0.8 billion very largely represented the initial tranches of the TRW transaction.

Kerrigan Procter, Managing Director, Legal & General Retirement, said: 

"We have worked with the TRW Pension Scheme over many years as they moved from Index Funds to Liability Driven Investment and now to buyout, all with Legal & General. It has been a pleasure to build such a great relationship and be in a position to help our client move all the way along their de-risking journey.

2014 has been a landmark year in the pension de-risking market with the two largest bulk annuity transactions in the UK, both with Legal & General. These demonstrate the strength of Legal & General's tailored pension de-risking solutions."

Neil Marchuk, Chair of the TRW Trustee Board, said:

"This buyout with Legal & General materially de-risks our remaining pension obligations and provides security to members who are insured.  Legal & General worked closely with us and our advisers to tailor the arrangement to meet the Scheme's needs and we are very pleased with their expertise, agility, pragmatism and level of service, all of which contributed to the success of this buyout."

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:

Investors:

Laura Doyle                 Head of Investor Relations                                                                020 3124 2088

Stephen Thomas           Investor Relations Manager                                                              020 3124 2047

Media:

John Godfrey               Group Communications Director                                                       020 3124 2090

Richard King                Head of Corporate Communications                                                  020 3124 2095

Notes to editors:

Legal & General Group Plc

Established in 1836, Legal & General is a leading provider of insurance, savings and investment management products in the UK. The Group has a market capitalisation of £14.5bn (as at 25th November 2014) and is responsible for investing £676bn worldwide (as at 30th September 2014) on behalf of investors, policyholders and shareholders. We have over seven million customers in the UK for life assurance, pensions, investments and general insurance plans and over one million customers in the US who rely on us for life assurance. In 2013, Legal & General's profits before tax (on the IFRS basis) were £1,134m and earnings per share were 15.20p for the period, an increase of 10% for both respectively.

For more information on Legal & General, please see http://www.legalandgeneralgroup.com/

TRW Automotive

TRW Automotive ranks among the world's leading automotive suppliers. Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, USA, the Company, through its subsidiaries, operates in 24 countries and employs approximately 65,000 people worldwide. TRW Automotive products include integrated vehicle control and driver assist systems, braking systems, steering systems, suspension systems, occupant safety systems (seat belts and airbags), electronics, engine components, fastening systems and aftermarket replacement parts and services.

TRW Automotive news is available on the internet at www.trw.com.

TRW Pension Scheme

The TRW pension Scheme is a trust-based pension arrangement providing pension benefits to over 46,000 beneficiaries with assets of £3.5bn (31 March 2014). The Trustee of the Scheme is TRW Pensions Trust Limited. The Principal Employer is TRW LucasVarity Limited, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. The Scheme was established by a Trust Deed dated 30 June 1928 and is primarily the legacy of the former Lucas Industries Plc UK pension schemes. It closed to all future accrual in 2009.

Forward looking statements

Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast. This document may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to Legal & General Group, its plans and its current goals and expectations relating to future financial condition, performance and results. By their nature forward-looking statements involve uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances which are beyond Legal & General's control, including, among others, UK domestic and global economic and business conditions, market related risks such as fluctuations in interest rates and exchange rates, the policies and actions of regulatory and Governmental authorities, the impact of competition, the timing impact of these events and other uncertainties of future acquisition or combinations within relevant industries. As a result, Legal & General Group's actual future condition, performance and results may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set out in these forward-looking statements and persons reading this announcement should not place reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made only as at the date on which such statements are made and Legal & General Group Plc does not undertake to update forward-looking statements contained in this document or any other forward-looking statement it may make.

 

END

 

 

CNTDBBDBXBDBGSL