Phoenix sees more UK pension insurance deals

LONDON: Phoenix Group, Europe’s largest owner of life assurance funds closed to new customers, expects Britain’s approaching departure from the European Union to push more UK companies to offload risks linked to their pension schemes in 2019.

The company also reported higher full-year profit and targeted cash generation of 3.8 billion pounds ($5.01 billion) from 2019 to 2023, more than the 2.5 billion pounds it earlier expected to earn between 2018 and 2022.

Phoenix, poised to enter london’ s blue-chip index, also said its preparations for Brexit were complete, adding it would transfer assets to an Irish domiciled unit in which it has injected 250 million pounds.

“We think we are bullet proof. We are ready for any Brexit scenario,” Chief Executive Officer Clive Bannister told Reuters.

Phoenix’ s european businesses makeup about 10 per cent of its assets under management, with the Irish office managing 23 billion pounds. the company employs 600 people in Ireland and Germany, under 15 per cent of its workforce.

Phoenix’s shares were 2.5 per cent higher at 723.4 pence ater it said IFRS operating profit rose to 708 million pounds in the year ended Dec.31, from 368 million pounds a year earlier. This was significantly above consensus expectations of 492 million pounds, boosted in part by a large release of longevity reserves due to easing growth in life expectancy in Britain. British companies are already expected to try and offload a record amount of pension schemes risk in 2019 as growth in life expectancy eases and interest rates rise, making deals more atractive for insurance firms.