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The Michelin Pension and Life Assurance Plan has agreed a £1.5 billion full-scheme buy-in with Aviva, covering the retirement benefits of around 15,000 members of the scheme. The transaction, which included an in-specie transfer of assets, is the largest publicly announced bulk purchase annuity (BPA) transaction of 2024 so far, and is also Aviva’s largest ever external BPA transaction.

The Church of England Pensions Board (CEPB) has completed a £145 million buy-in with Aviva for the Church Workers Pension Fund. The transaction follows on from previous buy-in deals with Prudential in 2013 and Aviva in 2022, meaning that all pensions within the fund’s defined benefit (DB) scheme are now backed by insurance policies. [Source: Investment and Pensions Europe (IPE)]

Starwind Specialty Insurance Services launched the $270 million Fractal Re Ltd. multi-year collateralized quota share sidecar across a diversified portfolio of its casualty program business. [Source: Artemis.bm]

$573 million of catastrophe (CAT) bonds were issued during the third quarter of 2024, taking nine month issuance to a new high of $13.2 billion. During the third quarter outstandings fell by $255 million from the end of the second quarter to $47.7 billion, but that is up $2.8 billion from end-2023, reflecting a record-breaking first half of 2024. [Source: Artemis]

Prologis is looking to issue $95 million Logistics Re Ltd. (Series 2024-1) single-tranche three-year catastrophe (CAT) bonds. They will cover losses from US earthquakes (mostly in California) on an indemnity and per-occurrence basis, . [Source: Artemis.bm]

“Ledger Investing, the insurtech and casualty insurance-linked securities (ILS) company, has funded and launched a new $100 million casualty sidecar for a global reinsurer, financing the company’s casualty reinsurance business over three underwriting years on a quota share basis.” [Source: Artemis.bm]

U.S.-based Continental Casualty, a subsidiary of CNA Financial, is looking to purchase a group annuity contract that would transfer between $800 million and $1 billion pension liabilities (50% to 60% of the plan's total liabilities). The potential purchase is expected to close in Q4 2024 and be funded directly by assets of the Plan and would not require any cash or asset contributions from the company. [Source: CNA]

Belgium-based Syensquo purchased group annuity contracts to transfer $425 million Canadian and U.S. pension liabilities to RBC Insurance and Pacific Life. No additional cash funding was required, as the plans are fully funded. [Source: Syensquo]

Beazley will issue $210 million PoleStar Re Ltd. (Series 2024-3) single-tranche three-year cyber catastrophe (CAT) bonds, versus the originally targeted $75 million. They will cover losses from major cyber loss events that impact Beazley's underwriting entities on an indemnity trigger and per-occurrence basis. [Source: Artemis.bm]

The collateralized reinsurance sidecar market has reached a new record high of $10 billion outstanding in 2024, which represents roughly 40% growth on the prior year, Aon Securities estimates. These quota share structures share underwriting profits and losses, without any exposure to business and corporate risk to the reinsurers. Backers include private equity-like investors, and pensions, endowments and family offices. Other data sources' size estimates are not quite as large as Aon's, with AM Best and Guy Carpenter putting outstandings at between $6 billion and $8 billion. [Source: Artemis.bm]

Bristol-Myers Squibb and State Street Global Advisors Trust are facing a lawsuit over a $2 billion pension risk transfer the pharmaceutical company completed in 2019 with Athene Annuity and Life Company. Several large companies have been sued in recent months over completing pension risk transfers with Athene, as plaintiffs continue to claim that the insurance company is “highly risky” and that employers are not selecting the “safest available insurer,” therefore violating ERISA. The Department of Labor issued a report on Interpretative Bulletin 95-1 in June, noting issues within the pension risk transfer marketplace, such as the role of private equity ownership, offshore re-insurance and riskier investment profiles, among others. [Source: Plansponsor]

Coats UK Pension Scheme completed a £1.3 billion buy-in from the Pension Insurance Corp. (PIC). To manage the scheme’s complex illiquid asset holdings, PIC received illiquid assets in specie and agreed a deferred premium to allow timely redemption of further illiquid holdings. The scheme previously completed a buy-in in 2022, covering £350 million of liabilities. This transaction covers the remainder of the scheme. [Source: PIC]

Beazley is looking to issue at least $75 million PoleStar Re Ltd. (Series 2024-3) single-tranche three-year cyber catastrophe (CAT) bonds. They will cover losses from major cyber loss events that impact Beazley's underwriting entities on an indemnity trigger and per-occurrence basis. [Source: Artemis.bm]

Sound Retirement Trust purchased a group annuity contract from Prudential Insurance Company of America to transfer about $221 mission pension liabilities, covering about 8,700 retirees and their beneficiaries. This is an industry-first multiemployer plan pension risk transfer (PRT), to fulfill retirement benefit promises for the Sound Retirement Trust, a Seattle-based joint labor-management board of trustees that provides grocery workers of contributing employers with retirement benefits... Such multiemployer pension plans are retirement programs jointly offered by contributing employers and labor unions and are often referred to as Taft-Hartley plans. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 allows employers in the same industry, such as construction or transportation, or in this case, the retail food industry, to contribute to a retirement plan for union members based on a collective bargaining agreement. Under these plans, union workers can transfer from job to job with minimal disruption in retirement plan participation, as long as their employers have bargained to contribute to the same retirement plan. [Source: Prudential Insurance Company of America]

Crown Holdings has entered into an agreement to purchase a group annuity contract from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company to fully guarantee benefits covered under the contract for nearly all of the retirees and deferred vested participants in its primary US defined benefit plans. The transaction provides a policy which covers the benefits for approximately 12,000 participants. Including prior buy-outs in Canada and the UK, the company will have annuitized approximately $4 billion in pension liabilities since 2021. [Source: Crown Holdings]

The trustees of The Scottish Milk Limited Retirement Benefits Plan have secured a £42 million bulk annuity with Just Group. The deal insures the pensions of all 452 members of the scheme, and includes a deferred premium element. [Source: Pensions Expert]

The Macmillan Cancer Support Pension Scheme has agreed a £33.7 million buy-in with Aviva, covering all of the scheme’s retirees and deferred members, and their beneficiaries. The defined benefit scheme, which was closed to new members in 2005 and to all new monetary contributions in 2010, moved into a funding surplus in recent years thanks to the scheme's investments. [Source: Pensions Age]

Artex Capital Solutions issued two Eclipse Re Ltd. catastrophe (CAT) bonds, taking the number of Eclipse Re Ltd. structures to seven for 2024, for total issuance of almost $180 million. In this case, a $5 million tranche of Eclipse Re Ltd. (Series 2024-3A) notes and a $7.5 million tranche of Eclipse Re Ltd. (Series 2024-4A) notes were issued. They mature on May 31, 2025 so have terms to maturity of one year or less. [Source: Artemis.bm]

[August 12, 2024] Kaith Re Ltd., the transformer vehicle owned by global reinsurance firm Hannover Re, has issued another private catastrophe bond, with just over $10 million of Seaside Re (Series 2024-61) notes sold to investors.

Switzerland-based Twelve Capital privately placed $10 million Dodeka 2024-2 half-year catastrophe (CAT) bonds. They will mature on December 27, 2024, the same date as the Dodeka 2024-1 CAT bonds issued a month prior, which probably covered losses from U.S. windstorms. The 2024-2 bonds, like the 2024-1s, are structured as a transformed industry-loss warranty (ILW) arrangement. [Source: Artemis.bm]

Legal & General (L&G) completed a £1.1 billion buy-in with the SCA UK Pension Plan, securing the benefits of 5,900 retirees and 3,600 deferred members. The SCA scheme, sponsored by Swedish health and hygiene product manufacturer Essity, transferred the bulk of its assets to L&G’s asset management arm ahead of the deal. L&G has been working with the Plan for 31 years through its Asset Management division. [Source: Reinsurance News)

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