Angie Brooks is right to point out that governance matters and it matters for Utmost whether it happens to its UK bulk purchase business or its offshore investment bonds.

Utmost was the Equitable and is now owned by US Private Equity. Thanks to Angie for keeping us informed of happenings in Guernsey.

This is the same Utmost that has recently been bought by JAB, about which I have written here.

Utmost are still buying out British DB pension schemes sponsored by UK companies. These pensions are the heritage we have built over the past 50 years and I would, like Angie Brooks, ask why we are not asking questions about the provenance of Utmost.

More widely, I would ask pension scheme trustees to consider risk , not just from the existing sponsor’s potential failure but of the failure of the insurer.

A TAS 300 report on the risks of buy in/out against those of continuing on as a pension scheme , transferring to a pension superfund or transitioning to a new sponsor makes sense.

It has taken Guernsey Financial Services at least ten years to catch up with Utmost and the Isle of Man regulators still haven’t got there. How long should we assume all is right with Utmost and indeed all insurers. They may not all have the problems Utmost have with governance but Utmost is not the only insurer with links across the pond and in particular to Bermuda.

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