Standard Life launches $2.7 billion UK pension venture with CVC, Prudential-led group

Aug 20 (Reuters) - Standard Life on Thursday announced a pension risk transfer (PRT) partnership backed by investments of up to £2 billion ($2.72 billion) with a consortium led by CVC and Prudential Financial to target large UK pension schemes.

Here are some details: 

• The partnership, called Standard Life PRT Solutions, will be funded through capital commitments of up to £2 billion over five years, including £500 million from Standard Life and a £400 million commitment from CVC. The remainder will be provided by other consortium members.

• The consortium also includes Goldman Sachs, MS&AD and other long-term institutional investors.

• British retirement specialist Standard Life will lend its pension risk transfer expertise and retain full operational control of the platform.

• PRT takes on pension liabilities from companies looking to offload their retirement schemes. It has become a key growth driver in the insurance industry.

• Standard Life said the platform would focus on larger UK pension schemes and corporate sponsors looking to transfer defined-benefit pension obligations to insurers.

• According to CVC, the UK PRT market remains one of the world's largest with about £1.2 trillion of defined-benefit pension liabilities yet to be transferred to insurers.

• The deal follows recent moves by private capital firms to partner with insurers in retirement markets, combining long-term capital with private market investment capabilities to capture growing pension de-risking demand.

($1 = 0.7349 pounds)

(Reporting by Atharva Singh and Simone Lobo in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)