Artemis.bm has compiled a chronological archive covering longevity risk transfer, including longevity swaps and pension hedging deals. The following reporting focuses on the most recent transactions in this market.
Record volumes in 2025
Lloyds Banking Group Pensions Trustees Limited completed three longevity swap transactions with Rothesay Life Plc. The agreements cover £4.8 billion of liabilities. Reinsurance capacity to support these deals was provided by major global reinsurers and an insurance subsidiary of US-based Prudential Financial, Inc. 2025 is shaping up as a record year for these transactions.
The BBC Pension Scheme transferred a further UK £6 billion of risk through a new longevity swap arrangement. Global insurance firm Zurich and reinsurance capacity from MetLife supported the deal. NN Group also transferred €4 billion of risk in a new longevity swap and reinsurance arrangement with Prudential Financial Inc. A separate transaction saw NN Group tap Prudential and Swiss Re to transfer €13 billion in risk associated with pension liabilities in the Netherlands.
The MMC UK Pension Fund entered into a £2 billion longevity swap and reinsurance arrangement with Munich Re. This marks the fund’s first swap to include active members, utilizing a captive Guernsey insurance cell.
New market entrants and solutions
Pacific Life Re entered the US longevity reinsurance market with a $3 billion longevity reinsurance agreement with American National Insurance Company. In the UK, the broker group WTW launched a streamlined longevity swap solution called Longevity Stream. This product aims to broaden access to the market for schemes with £100 million to £1 billion of liabilities.
MetLife and Zurich teamed on a UK £340 million pension longevity swap for the Airways Pension Scheme. MetLife provided the reinsurance capacity, while Zurich acted as the intermediary insurer. The Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund secured a £450 million longevity swap arrangement with the assistance of WTW and reinsurance capacity from MetLife.
These transactions highlight a maturing market where pension schemes are increasingly willing to separate their assets from their liabilities. By transferring longevity risk, funds can match their investment strategies with their obligations more accurately. This financial engineering allows trustees to secure funding for decades while reducing the volatility of their funding ratios.
