Standard Life has appointed Alexa Mitterhuber to its defined benefit pension (DB) de-risking team as director of DB solutions.
DB pension plans promise employees a specific retirement income, often based on salary and years of service, which can potentially create long-term financial liabilities for employers or other sponsoring organisations.
The de-risking team works to minimise the liabilities and uncertainties associated with these pension plans by implementing strategies to protect the plan sponsor and ensure that the plan’s commitments to retirees are met.
Teams like the one at Standard Life conduct in-depth risk analysis around investment volatility, interest rate changes, inflation, and longevity (retirees living longer than expected). This insight is used to inform investment strategy adjustments, such as moving the plan’s investments to more stable and predictable assets, to align with future payment obligations.
Other strategies can include transferring liabilities to insurance companies to reduce the sponsor’s long-term exposure.
Mitterhuber joins from M&G where she specialised in corporate risk solutions following M&G’s re-entry into the bulk purchase annuity (BPA) market. She previously held roles at both Legal & General and Mercer, working across pensions insurance, pensions and investment consulting.
Her appointment comes as Standard Life continues to focus on de-risking solutions for pension schemes and trustees. It also follows a successful first half of 2024, where the business wrote £1.7bn worth of bulk purchase annuity premiums, and more recently announced the completion of £250m of buy-ins with the Halma Group Pension Plan.
Standard Life’s managing director of DB solutions Kunal Sood said: “Alexa’s appointment, alongside other appointments and promotions we have announced over the last few years, underlines our commitment to the DB de-risking market, ensuring we have the best talent the industry has to offer.”
