Matt Wilmington, global risk management specialist at Hewitt Associates, said the higher costs associated with the risk of members living longer had become a key issue to both trustees and sponsoring companies.
"Hewitt believes the longevity swap market will see a minimum of six deals over the next year, with a total value of over £5 billion" he said."Once the Babcock deal was announced, we saw quite a flurry on interest from clients," Wilmington said.
In May, pension consultants said a longevity swap deal struck by engineering group Babcock International's pension schemes to hedge £500 million would open the door to more such deals.
Through longevity swaps, trustees pay a bank or some other counterparty to take on some of the risk over a defined period.
Wilmington said some of the new longevity swaps were at an "advanced stage" and he expected the bulk to be announced in the first quarter of next year. Hewitt is advising on some of those deals.
Around a third of FTSE 100 companies have already raised the age at which they assume their members will die, a move that will increase their pension liabilities.