UK. BBC presses play on $4 billion longevity swap

BBC Pension Scheme, London, completed a £3 billion ($4 billion) longevity swap with Zurich and Canada Life Reinsurance.

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The deal provides the pension fund and sponsoring employer British Broadcasting Corp. “with more certainty over future funding costs, and improves the security of all members’ benefits,” a notice posted on the pension fund’s website said.

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The fund had £17.3 billion in assets as of June 30. The deal covers about a third of retiree liabilities, the notice said.

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“The trustee is pleased to have been able to take this important step in our risk management strategy and significantly reduce one of the key risks that all pension schemes face, namely the uncertainty in relation to how long members will live, and pensions will have to be paid for,” Catherine Claydon, chairwoman of the trustee board, said in a Zurich news release.

A spokeswoman for the BBC Pension Trust confirmed the longevity swap transaction, which was agreed on Dec. 11.

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