The Safeway Pension Scheme has completed an £80m buy-in with Canada Life, insuring the benefits of over 350 deferred members and 1,450 pensioners.
The scheme is sponsored by Safeway Stores Limited, which is part of Morrison Supermarkets Group.
Aon acted as lead broker on the transaction for the scheme trustees, alongside being the scheme’s actuarial adviser.
Hymans Robertson was the investment adviser, while Clifford Chance and Gowling WLG provided the trustees with legal advice.
Canada Life was provided with legal advice by its in-house legal team.
Safeway Pension Scheme chair of the trustees, Steve Southern, commented: “As our sixth buy-in transaction, this is a significant milestone in our long term de risking journey and underlines the strong collaboration between the trustees and Morrison Supermarkets Group, working together through our joint working group to secure members’ benefits.”
Canada Life managing director, bulk purchase annuities, Shreyas Sridhar, said it had been a pleasure to support the scheme in reaching a buy-in deal and thanked the trustees for choosing Canada Life.
“Collaboration among all parties was vital to achieving an accelerated transaction process,” Sridhar continued.
“Working to a tight timescale, a joint working group held early admin preparation calls to ensure the scheme’s readiness, and efficient due diligence enabled swift completion of the agreement once Canada Life was exclusive as its insurer.”
Aon associate partner, James Staveley-Wadham, added: “We have worked with the Safeway Pension Scheme trustees on several stages of their de-risking journey, and this buy-in with Canada Life is another important milestone.
“The trustees have a highly engaged board, which allowed us to move swiftly while maintaining a clear focus on securing members’ benefits.”
The scheme previously completed a £1.4bn buy-in with Rothesay, securing the benefits of more than 22,500 members.
Latest News
Mortgage Advice Bureau and AI in the mortgage sector
Chief executive officer at Mortgage Advice Bureau, Peter Brodnicki, and founder and managing director at Heron Financial, Matt Coulson, joined content editor Dan McGrath to discuss how Mortgage Advice Bureau is using artificial intelligence to make advancements in the mortgage industry, the limitations of this technology and what 2026 will hold for the market
Perenna and the long-term fixed mortgage market
Content editor, Dan McGrath, spoke to head of product, proposition and distribution at Perenna, John Davison, to explore the long-term fixed mortgage market, the role that Perenna plays in this sector and the impact of the recent Autumn Budget
NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?
Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
© 2019 Perspective Publishing Privacy & Cookies
Recent Stories