CMS advises SCOR on £5 billion pension scheme longevity swap

CMS in London has successfully acted for SCOR SE in the £5 billion reinsurance of Aviva Staff Pension Scheme, a pension fund of Aviva Life & Pensions UK Ltd, in what is the largest pension longevity swap to date.

The milestone deal is the first disintermediated transaction of its kind that allows an efficient risk transfer to the reinsurance market, opening the door for other schemes to follow suit. The £5 billion deal is 50% larger than the previous largest longevity swap and takes the total value of such deals to more than £30 billion.

The CMS team was led by James Parker, the co-head of the Life, Pensions and Longevity Risk Team, with assistance from pensions partner Peter Coyne and associate Johanna Clarke, tax partner Aaron Fairhurst, financial services senior associate Lisa Brown, consultant Richard Ham and trainee Amanda Wallbank.

Commenting on the transaction James said: “Disintermediation is at the very cutting edge of developments in the longevity market. We are delighted to have been able to assist SCOR SE on this landmark transaction which consolidates its leading position in the longevity market. It also consolidates the reputation of CMS’ Life, Pensions and Longevity Risk Team which has previously advised SCOR on, amongst other deals, the £3 billion Rolls Royce longevity transaction and the innovative Euro 1.4 billion index-based longevity transaction with the Netherlands based insurer Aegon.”