Legal & General (L&G) has hired from investment consultant Redington to drive its de-risking business, as the market started the New Year with a bang.
John Towner joined the insurer at the end of December, according to his LinkedIn profile, as head of origination for pension buy-outs, buy-ins, and longevity insurance.
Towner had been with Redington as a director of its investment consulting team since October 2012. He joined the firm after a 16-year career in asset-liability structuring within the banking sector.
He joins L&G as the insurance company has stepped up its attack on the de-risking market. By the end of the third quarter of 2014, it led the pack in the UK with a 40% share of the buy-out and buy-in market, according to data from consultants LCP. This was driven by a £3 billion buy-in with the ICI Pension Fund in the first three months of the year.
This momentum continued and in November it secured a £2.5 billion partial buy-out of the TRW Pension Scheme as part of a “ground-breaking” risk transfer project. It claimed the deal was one of the largest and most complex completed in the UK to date.
A month earlier, the insurer’s investment management arm announced a “Buyout Aware” service for UK clients, which would lead them from a liability-driven investment product to a full buy-out.
This year, the de-risking sector has already taken off in the UK with the Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund insuring £1.5 billion of pensioner liabilities against longevity risk.
A spokesperson at Redington confirmed Towner’s departure and wished him luck in the future.
L&G was unable to offer comment by press time.
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