Utmost Life and Pensions completes the buyout of the Reliance Pension Scheme

Utmost Life and Pensions today announces that it has completed the buyout of the Reliance Pension Scheme.

In February 2025, Utmost Life and Pensions Limited entered into an agreement with the trustees of the Reliance Pension Scheme that, following completion of a data cleaning exercise, Utmost Life and Pensions would issue individual buyout policies to scheme members and dependants. In March 2026, following data cleaning, Utmost Life and Pensions issued 453 individual policies to secure scheme benefits, a vital step towards the winding up of the Scheme. At the same time, the company sponsored AVC policy was converted into individual AVC policies.

Andrew Stoker, Chief Executive Officer, said: “As Utmost Life and Pensions is the sponsor of the Reliance Pension Scheme, we took the decision to skip the buy-in phase of de-risking and to move straight to buy-out. MacFarlanes provided invaluable legal assistance with this innovative approach to pension de-risking and First Actuarial, the scheme's administrators, proved to be both responsive and efficient through the process. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Reliance Pension Scheme trustees for their services to the scheme and its members."

James Rickards, Director at Law Debenture and Chair of the Trustees, said: "We are pleased to have secured member benefits and AVCs with Utmost Life and Pensions in this innovative transaction."

Legal advice was provided to the Trustees by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer.