L&G Retirement Announces Results for 2020

Legal & General Group today announces its 2020 Annual Results, with Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI) reporting a particularly strong year. LGRI maintained its position as a leader in the UK market in 2020, having written £7,593m of premiums across 44 transactions (2019: £10,325m; 28 deals). US PRT new business premiums increased 42% to a record $1,614m (2020: £1,250m; 2019: $1,140m; £893m), as it grew market share from 4% in 2019 to 7% in 2020. Since entering the US market in 2015, Legal & General has underwritten more than $5bn of premiums.

Other key highlights for 2020 include:

·       LGRI’s first global PRT transaction, with LGRI simultaneously insuring IHS Markit’s UK and US pension plans for $144m (£122m).  As the only insurer providing PRT directly to pension plans globally, Legal & General is uniquely positioned to offer holistic, global pension de-risking solutions;

·       The market’s largest global PRT transaction for Evonik Industries, insuring both their US and UK pensions plans for $826m (£612m) during H2 2020;

·       Legal & General’s largest US PRT transaction independent of reinsurance, to date, at more than $350m;

·       A ninth bulk annuity for ICI, one of our largest PRT clients;

·       £1.1bn bulk annuity with Maersk Retirement Benefit Scheme which secures the pension benefits of around 1,900 deferred members and 3,000 retirees.

·       A £397m Assured Payment Policy, our capital-light PRT product, for Legal & General Group UK Senior Pension Scheme.  The policy provides asset yield, interest rate and inflation risk protection to the pension plan, paving a more secure path to buyout over a planned timeframe.

·       Small scheme solutions, with over 65% of our transactions smaller than £100m as we leveraged technological innovation to serve smaller pension plans more efficiently.

Laura Mason, Chief Executive Officer of Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI), comments:

“Despite the challenges presented in 2020, it was another strong year for LGRI, with Pension Risk Transfer playing an important role in driving Legal & General Group’s performance.

“As the only company operating across the full pension de-risking journey, we have set bold targets, anticipating transacting £40bn to £50bn in the UK PRT market over the next five years and growing our international footprint by writing more than $10bn of international PRT over the next five years.

We look forward to our continued working with trustees and pension schemes internationally to offer reassurance and security for pension scheme members by providing our unique de-risking solutions, while contributing to the UK’s economy through our investments in infrastructure, homes and communities.”