Stantec Pension Plan offloads all liabilities to Aviva from scheme assets
Stantec Pension Plan (UK Section) has completed a full-scheme buy-in with Aviva, according to industry reports, covering all liabilities for the scheme’s roughly 680 members. The bulk purchase annuity transaction was funded from scheme assets rather than by an additional sponsor contribution, making the scheme’s own balance sheet the source of capital for the deal.
The transaction completed the buy-in of all plan liabilities through a bulk purchase annuity, with Stantec backing the deal as sponsoring employer and supporting completion to secure members’ benefits over the long term. Reporting also indicates the arrangement was fully backed by the sponsor, Stantec UK Limited.
Available reporting did not disclose the premium paid to Aviva. Nor did it specify which assets were used to settle the transaction beyond stating that the premium was met from scheme assets, with no published breakdown across gilts, liability-driven investment holdings, cash or equities.
That funding route matters because it suggests the scheme was able to execute the insurance transaction without calling on fresh employer cash at completion. Before the buy-in, the defined benefit section’s stated objective was to hedge fully against the interest-rate and inflation risk attached to its total buyout liabilities, with a target allocation of 40% corporate bonds, 59% government bonds and 1% cash.
The pre-transaction investment structure also helps explain the scheme’s readiness for an insurance settlement. Trustees had delegated day-to-day portfolio management to Insight Investment Management, while the asset mix was designed to maintain the section’s target hedging levels.
The arrangement is disclosed in Stantec’s first-quarter 2026 report, with completion in May subsequently reported across pensions industry media. Stantec, the scheme sponsor, is a sustainable engineering, architecture and environmental consulting firm.
--- Sources: https://investors.stantec.com/static-files/d15502dc-fbf0-46c1-8b69-85bfac349122
Sources: investors.stantec.com
