Buy-in and buy-out volumes reached £28bn in the second half of 2023, marking a nearly 74% increase on the £16bn of transactions recorded in the same period in 2022, analysis from Hymans Robertson has revealed.

This included 226 transactions with an average size of around £217m, marking a 32% increase on the £21.2bn of transactions in the first half of 2023.

In the second half of 2023, more than 60% of the bulk annuity market by value resulted from seven deals in excess of £1bn.

This means that the total buy-in and buy-out volumes for the year to 31 December 2023 was £49.1bn, an all-time high for both the number and the value of transactions.

Commenting on the figures, Hymans Robertson head of risk transfer solutions, James Mullins, said: "Record transaction pipelines and activity are set to make 2024 yet another bumper year for the buy-in market.

"Even though January and February are usually quiet months for the buy-in market, the start of 2024 was a busy time for our risk transfer team, which led on more than £3bn of completed transactions in the first three months of the year.

"Many defined benefit schemes have continued to use their improved funding levels to target whole-scheme buy-ins.

"As they did in 2023, our expectation is that large transactions are likely to continue to drive market volumes in 2024 and beyond.

"Over the next few months, we expect around 15 buy-in transactions in the range of £1bn-£2bn to come to market. This £30bn of transactions will join a material flow of sub-£1bn buy-ins and several-billion-pound mega transactions.

"Changing market conditions have increased the capital insurers have to write new business. As the insurers’ back books mature, capital reserves can be freed up and allocated for new transactions."

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