Wood Pension Plan has completed a £1.65bn buy-in with Legal and General Assurance Society (L&G), securing the benefits of all 16,400 members.

The sponsor, Wood Group, is an engineering and consulting company. LCP acted as lead adviser on the transaction, while legal advice was provided to the trustee by Gowling WLG, to Wood Group by Pinsent Masons and to L&G by CMS.

According to L&G, member experience played a decisive role in the selection process, citing research showing that, aside from price, insurer financial strength and member experience were trustees’ main priorities.

Commenting on the transaction, Wood Group head of global retirement, Elaine Hanna, said: “The completion of this buy-in is an important step in securing the long-term future of the Wood Pension Plan. It provides greater certainty for our members while significantly reducing pension risk for Wood.

“Throughout the process, we have worked closely with the trustee, supported by our advisers and L&G, with a shared focus on achieving a positive long-term outcome for members.”

Wood Pensions Trustee chair, Mervyn Walker, explained the trustees’ objectives when approaching the market were to secure “excellent value for money and to ensure that the outstanding service we provide to members through the Wood Pensions team would continue into the long-term future”.

“In L&G, we are confident that we have selected a partner that fully meets our objectives, while also sharing our values and commitment to member service and experience," Walker added.

L&G CEO, institutional retirement, Gareth Mee, commented: “The importance placed on member experience and cultural alignment speaks directly to what L&G’s institutional retirement business has built over the last four decades: deep pension risk transfer expertise, a trusted brand and the experience needed to support customers well beyond the point of transaction.”

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