Watson Wyatt predicts more pension fund buy-outs

The consultancy says a sale frees a business of its pension fund liabilities at a lower cost than a fully authorised insurance company would require. This allows a company to offload its liabilities while the buyer makes a profit on an established fund. Watson Wyatt highlights Citigroup’s £200m acquisition of the Thomson Regional Newspaper pension fund earlier this month as the start of a trend. Citigroup became the first bank to buyout an external pension fund in the acquisition. The Citigroup acquisition follows the sale of 75% of Threshers two weeks after a consortium led by Duke Stree...