Utmost Life and Pensions today (9 January) confirmed its “successful entry” into the bulk purchase annuity (BPA) market.
The move comes after having appointed new leadership, built a team of over 20 people focussed on BPA and successfully transacted with two external pension schemes in Q4 2024.
The statement said it had established a “strong and credible offering to address the significant demand for pension risk transfer in the UK and, with the BPA market projected to generate over £400 billion in volumes over the next decade, Utmost Life and Pensions offers a new and attractive choice for pension schemes to secure their members’ benefits”.
There was also a strong established pipeline for 2025 and it was “confident it can deliver on its growth ambitions which incorporate a target market share of over 5% within 5 years”.
The next phase of Utmost Life and Pensions’ strategy is being led by chief executive officer, Andrew Stoker (pictured), who has been appointed following the retirement of Stephen Shone.
Stoker is a qualified actuary with extensive financial services experience. He was most recently the chief financial officer at Rothesay, a position he held for nine years.
Paul Thompson, group chief executive officer, Utmost Group, said: “Andrew’s experience will be invaluable in continuing to strengthen our offering and further penetrating the large and attractive bulk purchase annuity market. It is pleasing to see that external pension schemes are already recognising the valuable addition that Utmost is making to the sector.”
Stoker said: “Since joining Utmost, I have been impressed by the calibre of the team and its strong ethos of customer service. Utmost Life and Pensions now has a strong platform for competing in the BPA market and we are building a compelling proposition for pension scheme trustees and members. I am excited by the opportunity to lead the next phase of Utmost’s BPA strategy.”
