PIC doubles up on Manchester PFIs

The UK specialist insurance group has now committed almost £150m backing two such deals.

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), the specialist UK insurer, has completed its second social housing Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deal in the Greater Manchester area.

The firm has provided £74 million (€89 million; $121 million) of funding as the key investor in a PFI bond which allows Manchester City Council to begin regenerating more than 1,100 homes in the Brunswick area of the city.

The bond was arranged by Lloyds Bank and guaranteed by monoline insurer Assured Guaranty.

The Brunswick project involves the construction and refurbishment of social homes, new parks, green spaces and play areas as well as allowing the construction of 322 new homes for private sale.

In September last year, PIC was the sole investor in £72 million of bonds backed by a project agreement with Salford City Council to fund the New Pendleton social housing PFI project – also in Greater Manchester.

Allen Twyning, investment manager at PIC, said in a statement the firm has seen “strong inflows which we are seeking to invest in assets with long-dated, stable cash flows”.

PIC provides tailored pension insurance buyouts and buy-ins to the trustees and sponsors of UK defined benefit pension funds. It has almost £10 billion in assets and has insured 100,000 pension fund members.