Prudential Retirement today announced its first longevity reinsurance transaction of 2012. Under the terms of the deal, Prudential Retirement will provide reinsurance of longevity risk to the U.K.'s Rothesay Life, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. The transaction initially covers pension liability values of 423 million British pounds, approximately equal to $665 million U.S. dollars.

The reinsurance secures the retirement benefits of almost 20,000 members of the Uniq Plc Pension Scheme, who are insured by Rothesay Life. The reinsurance transaction is particularly significant as it covers the risks of all life annuities held by plan participants, regardless of age or retirement status, and over half the plan participants reinsured have yet to reach retirement.

"We are happy to partner with Rothesay on another innovative Pension Risk Transfer transaction that helps to secure the retirement benefits of Uniq's members," said Amy Kessler, senior vice president and head of Prudential's Longevity Reinsurance business.