Athene, a retirement services company, has closed its third pension group annuity (PGA) with Lockheed Martin involving the transfer of $4.3bn in pension obligations.
Athene’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, Athene Annuity and Life Company (AAIA) and Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company of New York (AANY), have agreed to provide annuity benefits for approximately 13,600 participants of Lockheed Martin’s pension plan who are currently receiving benefits.
Since its first transaction with Lockheed Martin in 2018, Athene has agreed to provide annuity benefits for over 40,000 Lockheed Martin plan participants, totalling $10bn in pension obligations and related plan assets.
Sean Brennan, Executive Vice President, Pension Group Annuity and Flow Reinsurance at Athene, said: “Today, many plan sponsors are looking for a trusted partner to help them reduce the volatility of their pension obligations.
“As a leader in the pension group annuity market, we look forward to continuing to identify innovative solutions for pension risk mitigation as we support plan sponsors at every stage of the process.
“We are pleased to have once again been selected to provide Lockheed Martin’s pension plan participants with the continued retirement security they earned.”
Under the agreement, AAIA and AANY have each committed to issuing a group annuity contract to Lockheed Martin and individual annuity certificates to applicable participants.
“We continue to see an increase in the size and frequency of US PGA transactions,” commented Grant Kvalheim, President of Athene and CEO and President of Athene USA.
He added: “Athene’s financial strength and expertise on managing retirement obligations ensure we are a solutions provider that is well-equipped at helping companies de-risk while maintaining retirees’ benefits in a seamless way.”
