Pension scheme trustees for Debenhams and Clara-Pensions said on Thursday they had agreed to a 600 million pound ($768 million) transfer of the former British retailer’s pension assets in a so-called superfund deal.
Debenhams collapsed in 2019, after over 240 years of trading and the 10,400 members of its pension scheme have been receiving reduced benefits while it was under assessment by Britain’s pensions lifeboat the Pension Protection Fund.
Through the Clara superfund model, pension schemes aim to improve their funding positions over 5-10 years and then buy a bulk annuity, which is considered by regulators the safest structure for such funds.
Clara will provide an additional 34 million pounds in new capital and restore the scheme members’ full benefits, the two organisations said in a joint statement.
The Debenhams transaction is Britain’s second superfund deal, aimed at pension schemes which cannot afford the more expensive insurance of a so-called bulk annuity.
The bulk annuity market has been growing as employers seek to get pension scheme risk off their books.
“We’re a bridge to that market,” Clara CEO Simon True told Reuters, adding: “We are just there to help people on their way there.”
True said Clara had a pipeline of more than 10 billion pounds in potential superfund deals and hoped to raise its assets under management through such deals to at least 2 billion pounds by the end of the year, from 1.2 billion currently.
“Superfunds can offer increased security, improved governance and better risk management, which means that pension savers are more likely to get their promised benefit,” said Mel Charles, The Pension Regulator’s interim executive director of frontline regulation.
Clara, which is currently Britain’s only superfund provider, is backed by investment manager Sixth Street.
Source: Reuters.com