The number of pension risk transfer deals, including those involving full plan terminations, is expected to rise this year, sources said.
Even so, U.S. corporate pension plans are expected to transfer a total of about $25 billion in liabilities to insurance companies in 2019, consistent with last year.
The total for 2018 was about $27 billion, according to the annual LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute survey. Despite the similar dollar amounts, the number of deals will likely increase significantly, said Matt McDaniel, Philadelphia-based U.S. leader of Mercer LLC’s financial strategy group, in a telephone interview.
