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NEWS IN BRIEF
All Aboard: L&G Secures £1.7bn of UBS Pensions in the Year’s Largest UK Buy-in
More than 7,000 members of the UBS Section are now fully secured with Legal & General. It completes a journey that began with the Credit Suisse Section’s £900m buy-in in 2024
Issue 22 • 26 October 2026 • Pensions & Longevity
The Transaction
Legal and General Assurance Society and the trustee of the UBS (UK) Group Pension Plan have completed a £1.7bn buy-in. It covers more than 7,000 members of the plan’s UBS Section and is the largest UK pension risk transfer announced in 2026 so far.
The deal includes novating the plan’s existing longevity hedge from Zurich to L&G. L&G was chosen through a competitive process, and a price-lock mechanism gave the trustee price certainty before completion.
Issue 22 • 26 October 2026 • Pensions & Longevity
Market Context
The deal follows a £900m buy-in for the plan’s Credit Suisse Section in 2024, so both sections are now fully secured with L&G.
Advisers: Aon as risk settlement adviser, LCP on investment, Marsh on actuarial and covenant matters, and Sackers, supported by Gowling WLG, as lead legal adviser to the trustee. Hogan Lovells Cadwalader advised UBS and Slaughter and May advised L&G.
Quote
“This is a significant transaction for the Plan.”
— Chris Martin, Chair of the Plan and Trustee Director, Independent Governance Group
Issue 22 • 26 October 2026 • Pensions & Longevity
JDC VIEW
This is a legacy story in all but name. UBS inherited Credit Suisse’s UK pension obligations in the 2023 rescue, and with this deal both halves of the merged plan sit with a single insurer.
Novating the longevity hedge rather than unwinding it is a neat piece of structuring. We expect to see it repeated as schemes with existing hedges move to full buy-ins.
Sources: Legal & General press release, 21 Oct 2026; Reinsurance News; IPE; Law360.
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