Risk Transfer expert Michael Abramson joins Hymans Robertson as Partner
Actuarial consulting firm Hymans Robertson has enhanced its pensions and benefits consultancy with the hiring of Michael Abramson. The former Mercer employee will shore up Hymans Robertson’s offering, as the firm prepares for heightened demand in 2018.
Founded in 1921, Hymans Robertson is one of the longest established independent actuarial firms in the UK. The group delivers a full range of services including actuarial, investment consulting, enterprise risk management, third-party pensions administration and communications consulting, with a client base including FTSE 100, FTSE 250, privately owned firms and financial institutions. The firm has recently been strengthening its Risk Transfer offering, as its clients prepare for an uncertain economic future and attempt to prepare for life after Brexit.
The strengthening of this aspect of Hymans Robertson’s business has continued with the hiring of Risk Transfer expert Michael Abramson. With around 15 years of experience in both consulting and insurance, Abramson has played a key role in some of the most prominent transactions undertaken in the recent history of the Risk Transfer market. These have included the largest buy-in (£3 billion) and largest buy-out (£2.5 billion) ever carried out.
Abramson has joined Hymans Robertson on the back of a 2 year stint with Prudential, where he was most recently a Director of Wholesale Transactions. This role saw him take responsibility for the group’s bulk annuity team, and become involved in over £5 billion of longevity hedging on its annuity back book. Prior to that engagement, Abramson spent more than four years with Legal & General’s bulk annuity team, most recently holding the position of Head of Strategic Business, Bulk Annuities and Longevity Insurance. Earlier, Abramson worked at global consulting firm Mercer, joining fresh from studying an integrated Master’s in Mathematics at the University of Leeds. Over an 8 year period, he rose to the rank of Principal, before departing Mercer in 2011. Now he arrives at Hymans Robertson as a Partner and Risk Transfer Specialist, and will be based in the firm’s London office.
James Mullins, Partner and Head of Risk Transfer Solutions at Hymans Robertson, said of the appointment, “Michael’s fantastic credentials mean he will be a first class addition to our fast-growing risk transfer team. The experience he brings from the highest-profile transactions will enable us to further extend our outstanding risk transfer advice in what we expect to be a record breaking year in this area.”
Abramson himself meanwhile added, “Hymans Robertson’s risk transfer practice stands out by its commitment to provide tailored transaction advice to each client. I am thrilled to be joining the team at such an exciting time for risk transfer. I look forward to driving many more ground-breaking transactions and working to capture the best risk transfer solutions for our clients.”
Abramson arrives just weeks after fellow Mercer alumni Baljit Khatra also joined Hymans Robertson. Khatra was likewise hired to the firm’s Pensions and Benefits Consultancy, becoming a Risk Transfer Consultant in the company’s Birmingham office. Khatra is one of 16 consultants who advise pension scheme trustees and sponsoring employers on the best approaches to insuring risks.
