First-of-its-kind platform to provide enhanced price transparency and liquidity to group annuity market

Mercer, a global consulting leader in advancing health, wealth and careers, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC), today announced the launch of the Mercer Pension Risk ExchangeSM (the “exchange”).The exchange is a groundbreaking solution that helps plan sponsors execute group annuity buyouts in a shorter timeframe and in a more competitive pricing environment. As the first platform of its kind, the exchange increases liquidity and price transparency by enabling plan sponsors to continuously monitor pricing and contract terms available in the group annuity market. The exchange also provides sponsors with greater exposure to a wider array of insurers that could potentially act as transactional counterparts for a buyout.

“Market pricing changes continuously based on interest rates and insurers’ needs. The way to really know when the market is moving in a direction favorable to the sponsor is to monitor prices specifically for their plan. The exchange creates the platform for sponsors to do exactly this,” said Jacques Goulet, President of Mercer's Retirement, Health, and Benefits business.

The exchange provides real-time online annuity pricing and trigger monitoring, combining a suite of buyout advisory and execution services. These include:

  • Deal readiness: streamlining the process by creating an industry standard for data preparation and document specification.
  • Dynamic monitoring: monitoring prices and metrics in real time to identify when conditions are optimal to execute.
  • Execution support: providing comprehensive support to sponsors and fiduciaries to help navigate the complexities of the buyout execution – ranging from insurer due diligence and asset preparation through to contract negotiation.

“Though sponsors’ appetite to transfer pension risk is high, they face some barriers to execution. Lack of clear information about the true cost of a buyout, limited transparency and the fluctuation of market rates and plan dynamics are all major challenges,” said Phil de Cristo, president and group executive of Mercer’s investment business. “We wanted to empower plan sponsors to be more strategic and sophisticated in their approach and to execute buyouts at the best times and at competitive prices. The exchange offers a significant advantage to sponsors considering a buyout.”

Notes for editors:

Mercer will conduct a webcast on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at 2pm EDT/1pm CDT/12pm MDT/11am PDT. Link to register for the webcast can be found here: http://ow.ly/NVKAT

About Mercer

Mercer is a global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement and investments. Mercer helps clients around the world advance the health, wealth and performance of their most vital asset – their people. Mercer’s more than 20,000 employees are based in more than 40 countries and the firm operates in over 130 countries. Mercer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC), a global professional services firm offering clients advice and solutions in the areas of risk, strategy and people. With 57,000 employees worldwide and annual revenue exceeding $13 billion, Marsh & McLennan Companies is also the parent company of Marsh, a leader in insurance broking and risk management; Guy Carpenter, a leader in providing risk and reinsurance intermediary services; and Oliver Wyman, a leader in management consulting. For more information, visit www.mercer.com. Follow Mercer on Twitter @MercerInsights.

MercerAlayna Francis, 212-345-1315Alayna.Francis@mercer.comFollow Mercer on Twitter: @MercerInsights

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