The House of Fraser Beatties & Jenners Pension Scheme has completed a £600m buyout with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), covering 3,850 deferred members and 5,050 pensioners.

As reported by our sister title, Pensions Age, the scheme’s sponsor, House of Fraser, went into administration in August 2018. Shortly after, the scheme entered the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment process.

The buyout now means that members will receive higher benefits than they would have under the PPF.

In October 2021, the PPF approved the scheme's s143 valuation, moving the scheme into the final stage of the assessment.

Then in January of this year, a court approved an application by the scheme's trustees to ensure that it could secure benefits for members by making sure that increases to pensions were made at a fixed rate, rather than a variable rate, thus enabling the trustees to press ahead with selecting a buyout provider.

House of Fraser Beatties & Jenners Pension Scheme chairman, Steve Sargent, said that the buyout would also provide thousands of members with certainty and long-term security for their benefits.

"We see this as a very successful outcome following the challenges caused by the insolvency, and would like to thank PIC and our advisers who helped us achieve this result,” he added.

PIC head of origination structuring, Uzma Nazir, commented: “We are proud to have been able to complete this buyout with the [scheme trustees], despite significant market volatility.

"The [scheme's] commitment to securing member pensions above PPF levels with the full member protection offered through the UK regulated insurance regime sets an example to others and we are delighted to partner with them.”

The House of Fraser trustees appointed LCP to provide specialist advice and CMS to provide legal advice. PIC was advised by Herbert Smith Freehills.

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