Smiths Group extends pension de-risking with 130m buy-in

Smiths Group plc (“Smiths” or “the Company”) announces today that the Trustee of the TI Group Pension Scheme (the “Scheme”) has entered into a bulk annuity buy-in agreement with Pension Insurance Corporation (“PIC”), a specialist insurer of defined benefit pension funds.

Demonstrating the Company’s commitment to de-risking its pension liabilities, the buy-in policy covers liabilities totalling £130 million relating to approximately 1,500 legacy Scheme pensioners and dependants. Through a series of buy-ins, around £1 billion of the TI Scheme liabilities has now been insured.

Chris O’Shea,Chief Financial Officer, said:

“Working closely with the Scheme Trustee, we continue to make progress in de-risking our pension liabilities. With today’s announcement, we are creating an ever more effective hedge in the TI Scheme against the impact of changes in inflation, interest rates, duration and mortality assumptions.

“Our sustained focus, over many years, on de-risking the Company’s pension liabilities has reduced funding volatility and has led to significantly lower funding obligations going forward – freeing up capital for Smiths to invest in growth opportunities. Over 90% of the Group’s total pension liabilities are hedged through our liability driven investment strategy.”

Chris Surch, Chairman of the TI Group Pension Scheme Trustee, said:

“This is the second buy-in we have completed with PIC as part of our long-term de-risking strategy. We have made considerable strides to completely de-risk the Scheme and this remains our long-term aim.”