Hi, I would like to ask that does the ruling also ban gender as a rating factor in: Bulk annuities, namely buy-ins & buy-outs? Longevity swaps? Thank you.
Hi - I'm not a legal expert and maybe someone who deals in these instruments can correct me, but my reaction is that these instruments are not affected by the ruling. The EU Gender Directive is about ensuring that individuals are not discriminated against on the basis of their gender. In these examples, the entity purchasing the product is not an individual: it is the trustees of a pension scheme, say, or an insurance company wishing to swap out its longevity risk. In both cases, the benefits being paid to the individual are unaffected by the transaction. Hence the rates at which the institutional transactions take place could take into consideration the gender mix of the portfolio on which the trade or swap is being done.
