An industry leader has claimed that up to £10 billion of assets in pension funds could be transferred to buyout specialists over the course of 2008.
Simon Gadd, managing director for Legal & General's annuities business, told the Daily Telegraph that the first £1 billion deal could occur this year as "currently more than half a dozen schemes are looking at their options".
According to Mr Gadd, the buyout market is rising because longer life expectancy is making pensions "increasingly difficult to manage".
It has been reported that casino group Rank has already offloaded £700 million of its pension assets to Goldman Sachs's buyout vehicle Rothesay Life this year.
"Finance directors are looking at buyout options as regulation, longevity, accounting rules and investment volatility has pushed pension costs and risks up their agenda," added Mr Gadd.
PricewaterhouseCoopers' Pensions Survey 2008 recently found that 35 per cent of employers were looking at the option to buyout some of their pension liabilities.
Of the respondents, 19 per cent said that they plan to do this in the next five years.
Show me Audit Senior jobs
© Adfero Ltd
