Towers Watson Form Guernsey ICC To Hedge Pension Longevity Risk

Leading global professional services company Towers Watson has launched a new service enabling pension schemes to gain direct access to the reinsurance market in order to hedge longevity risk for their defined benefit liabilities.

Based in Guernsey, Towers Watson Longevity Direct allows pension schemes to own a ready-made insurance cell that can write insurance and reinsurance contracts for longevity swap transactions. The structure significantly reduces the cost of hedging longevity risk for pension schemes by removing the need for an intermediary insurer to write the transaction. It also means bigger transactions can be completed and the best reinsurance pricing can be accessed.  Willis Guernsey is managing the Incorporated Cell Company (ICC) for Towers Watson and Appleby is providing the legal services.