Hymans Robertson confirms that total pension scheme buy-in and buy-out volumes over the first half of 2021 reached £6.8bn, with a further £0.9bn ‘Assured Payment Policy’ transaction, as it publishes its final half year analysis report. These are lower than average volumes with most insurers writing significantly less business than they usually would over this period, with smaller and mid-sized transactions dominating the market during that time. This is due to the fact that volumes were particularly high at the end of 2020, which led to a naturally quieter period at the start of 2021.

The finalised volume of £7.7bn took place across 58 transactions in the half year to 30 June 2021.

James Mullins, Head of Risk Transfer at Hymans Robertson, comments:

“With a finalised £6.8bn of confirmed buy-ins and buy-outs as at 30 June 2021, the market has been quieter than previous years. Despite the slow first half of 2021, insurers are now at one of their busiest ever levels, with a strong pipeline of deals which they expect to transact before the end of the year, including several buy-ins of well over £1bn. This means that transaction volumes for the full year could still be over £25bn.

“In the first part of 2021, Hymans Robertson’s risk transfer team led the advice on over £2bn of buy-ins and we are in no doubt that the remainder of 2021 will be a busy time for our team and the market in general.”

A copy of the final report can be accessed here.