Pensions and financial services consultancy Hymans Robertson has announced the addition of Lara Desay as a Partner and Risk Transfer Specialist.
Desay joins from Scottish Widows where she was Head of Origination and Operations for its bulk annuity team.
Prior to joining Hymans, Desay played a key role in a number of significant risk transfer transactions including £15 billion of transactions between the Lloyds Banking Group pension scheme and Scottish Widows.
She also led the execution of Scottish Widows’ largest transaction to date, the £880m buy-in with the Littlewoods Pension Scheme, as well as their £510m transaction with the Aon Retirement Plan.
“We are thrilled to welcome Lara to Hymans Robertson and I know she will be a brilliant addition to our risk transfer team with her impressive transaction experience,” said James Mullins, Partner and Head of Risk Transfer Solutions at Hymans Robertson.
“The continued growth of our team will enable us to help even more pension schemes to insure their liabilities through buy-ins, buy-outs, longevity swaps and other alternative forms of risk transfer,” Mullins continued.
“We know from experience that trustees and sponsoring employers really value working with a consultant who has previously worked for insurance company buy-in teams and so has a clear understanding of how to get the best results from the insurers. This is particular important in a busy market, with our analysis showing that over £50bn a year of buy-ins are expected on average over the next five years.”
Desay also commented: “I am really pleased to be joining Hymans Robertson at such an exciting time for the risk transfer team, and the market more broadly as we head into a busy period for buy-in transactions. I look forward to leading many more ground-breaking transactions and working to capture the best risk transfer solutions for our clients. Hymans Robertson’s risk transfer team is committed to providing tailored advice to each client, and I am delighted to be a part of this.”
