The trustees of the Contship Containerlines Limited 1979 Pension Scheme have agreed a £25m full scheme buy-in with Legal and General (L&G), securing the benefits of around 150 members.

Barnett Waddingham acted as actuarial, administration, investment and risk transfer advisers, while Burges Salmon provided legal advice to the trustees.

The buy-in means that the benefits for all the scheme’s members are now insured.

Commenting on the deal, chair of trustees, Paul Rogers, said: "Our job as trustees is first and foremost to ensure our members receive the benefits they are entitled to, which is why we are thrilled to have secured this transaction with L&G.

"It has been an aspirational goal of ours for many years, but now has become a reality. This wouldn’t have been possible without the great support TUI has given the scheme.

“We would also like to thank our advisers, Barnett Waddingham and Burges Salmon, for their leadership on this project and through the scheme’s journey to this stage.

“We are also very appreciative to L&G for working with the trustees to achieve this buy-in transaction.”

Adding to this, head of financial accounting content at TUI, Joerg Rosendahl, said: "We are very happy that the scheme has been able to reach this agreement with L&G, providing further security for member benefits.

"We are pleased to have worked closely with the trustees and their advisers to support the scheme to complete this transaction."

Director of UK pension risk transfer at L&G, Adrian Somerfield, added: "We are pleased to have strengthened our relationship with an existing client of our asset management business.

"The trustees adopted our flow proposition which enabled a price lock to their L&G asset management pooled funds before ultimately novating these to us as part of premium payment. This ensured cost certainty and a seamless transaction.

"This buy-in fully secures the scheme’s members’ benefits and is a great outcome for all parties involved."

Senior risk transfer adviser at Barnett Waddingham, Nikhil Patel, also said that Barnett Waddingham was "delighted" to have helped the trustees achieve this "important milestone".

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