LCP reaches £5bn secured through its Streamlined Buy-in Service following completion of a £24m full buy-in for the UK scheme of a Japanese Bank

LCP has advised the Trustees of the UK scheme on a £24 million full buy-in with Just Group (“Just”), running a competitive process to secure the benefits of the Scheme’s c160 members. The Scheme is sponsored by one of Japan’s largest financial institutions.

The buy-in insures all member benefits, removing longevity and investment risk from the Scheme and providing long-term security for members. LCP led the buy-in transaction for the Trustees. Legal advice was provided by Sackers and Gowling WLG.

This transaction marks the 118th completed under LCP’s streamlined buy-in and buy-out service for smaller schemes, bringing the total buy-in premiums advised through this service to over £5bn. This service has revolutionised the smaller end of the market, simplifying the buy-in process, making it faster and more cost effective through pre-agreed contracts with enhanced terms and facilitating more insurers to participate.

Smaller scheme transactions have been driving record activity in the buy-in/out market – we estimate there were a record 350+ transactions in 2025 (FY 2024: 298 transactions). Sub-£100m buy-ins/outs accounted for over 85% of all transactions by number in H1 2025 up from 78% for FY 2024 and c70% for FY 2022 and 2023.

Ruth Ward, Partner at LCP, said: "We are delighted to have supported the Trustees in achieving this important milestone. This transaction reflects the growing trend of smaller schemes taking decisive steps to secure member benefits with a UK life insurer.

“Our streamlined service has been instrumental in helping schemes move quickly and efficiently to achieve buy-in transactions. Reaching £5bn of transactions through this service underlines how it has set the standard for efficient, member-focused solutions in an increasingly active market."

David Barnett, Chair of Trustees, commented: “We are pleased to have achieved this transaction, working collaboratively with the Bank, to secure full benefits for the Bank’s UK pension scheme. We really value the hard work by all our advisers and how LCP supported us throughout the process, tailoring their streamlined service to ensure the transaction met our specific requirements.

Alma Goyanes-Payne, Business Development Manager at Just, added: “Being able to support a streamlined approach to buy-in is one of the benefits of our innovative pricing and bulk quotation service, Beacon. Working closely with the sponsor, trustee and LCP we delivered rapid pricing that could be quickly executed to meet the scheme’s needs. This is another example of how the BPA market continues to deliver the right suite of solutions to meet schemes’ needs in a robust, flexible manner.”