Pension Insurance Corporation Group (PICG), the parent of Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has reported solid 2025 results as it prepares for new ownership and leadership in an increasingly competitive UK bulk annuity market.
The company delivered adjusted operating profit before tax of £880 million in 2025, broadly in line with the £875 million recorded in 2024. Total new business came in at £6.8 billion, compared with £8.1 billion the previous year, with the group pointing to a “very strong” pipeline for 2026.
Dom Veney, interim chief executive officer of PIC, said 2025 had been “one of the most significant” years in the firm’s 20-year history, citing the agreed acquisition by Athora Group and the departure of long-standing CEO Tracy Blackwell.
“2025 proved to be one of the most significant in PIC’s 20-year history, with the announcement of the company’s acquisition by the Athora Group, as well as the departure of long-standing CEO, Tracy Blackwell,” Veney said. “Following completion of the transaction on or around March 27, 2026, PIC will be owned for the first time by a single strategic owner. The Athora Group has the capacity and resources to support PIC through the next phase of our growth, as we help increasing numbers of pension scheme trustees secure their members’ benefits for the long term.”
Regulatory approval for the Athora deal was granted on March 6, 2026, with completion expected later this month. PIC has already announced the appointment of former Phoenix CIO Mike Eakins as its new CEO, subject to regulatory approval.
PIC wrote £6.8 billion of new business in 2025, including a £4.3 billion buy-in with the Rolls-Royce pension scheme, securing the pensions of a further 36,000 people. Total pensions insured now stand at 438,000, up from 397,100 a year earlier. Pension payments during the year totalled £2.5 billion, taking cumulative payments since inception to £19.3 billion.
These figures come against sustained activity in the UK bulk purchase annuity market. Recent analysis indicates that 2025 is likely to close with a slightly lower total deal value than 2024, but still around £40 billion, and with a record number of transactions as more schemes seek to de-risk. Analysts also highlight growing competition from new entrants and alternative ownership models, increasing pricing pressure and prompting insurers to move up and down the deal-size spectrum.
Veney acknowledged the operational demands of managing both transaction activity and the pending change of ownership.
“I want to thank all of our employees for delivering a tremendous result alongside the additional workload caused by the acquisition,” he said. “During the year we wrote £6.8 billion of new business, including the £4.3 billion Rolls-Royce buy-in, securing the pensions of another 36,000 people. We made pension payments of £2.5 billion, with a 99% customer satisfaction rating, and have now paid more than £19 billion in pensions to our policyholders to date.”
PIC’s numbers place it firmly among the leading writers in a UK bulk annuity market dominated by a handful of specialists and large composite insurers. While individual competitors’ 2025 figures vary by reporting date and mix of business, Moody’s estimated that total market volume for the year will be “around £40 billion” of transactions, slightly below 2024 in value but with more deals completed.
Against that backdrop, £6.8 billion of new business implies that PIC continues to command a meaningful share of annual flows, alongside larger players such as Legal & General, Rothesay and Aviva, as well as other specialist writers. The £4.3 billion Rolls‑Royce buy‑in underlines PIC’s ongoing ability to compete for landmark schemes in the £1 billion‑plus segment, even as new capital‑backed entrants and alternative ownership models put additional pressure on pricing and capital deployment across the market.
Moody’s analysts noted that growing competition is “driving pricing competition and also driving companies to play up and down the market in terms of deal size to where they typically would,” a trend that affects incumbents such as PIC as they balance volume ambitions with return on capital.
PIC declared total dividends of £520 million for 2025. With the Athora acquisition nearing completion and competition in the de-risking market intensifying, the group’s next phase will hinge on maintaining pricing discipline and capital strength while continuing to secure large and mid-sized pension transactions.
