Pension buy-in transactions, in which an insurer reimburses the company for benefit payments the plan will make to its retirees and beneficiaries, are very common in the U.K., but rare in the U.S.

Mark Paracer, assistant research director at the Secure Retirement Institute, said in a news release Tuesday that the combined year-to-date volume for buyout and buy-in sales of $25 billion sets the stage for the U.S. pension risk transfer market to exceed the record $36 billion set in 2012. Mega deals by General Motors Co., Detroit, and Verizon Communications Inc., New York, made up the majority of the total buyout sales in 2012.

“The fourth quarter is historically the strongest quarter for PRT as many plan sponsors look to close out deals by year-end to remove their pension liability from balance sheets so they can start the year off fresh,” Mr. Paracer said. “We expect that trend to continue.”

Mr. Paracer also noted the entry of two new insurers into the marketplace in 2021 — Midland National and Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Co. — as signs that volume will continue to grow.

The largest transactions in the third quarter were completed by HP Inc., Palo Alto, Calif., and Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md. HP transferred about $5.2 billion in U.S. pension plan liabilities to Prudential Insurance Co. of America, and Lockheed Martin transferred about $4.9 billion in U.S. pension plan liabilities to Athene Holding.

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