I advise both occupational and personal pension schemes on a wide range of DB and DC pension issues. This includes working with trustees, independent governance committees and personal pension providers on business-as-usual issues, as well as major projects (including DC consolidation and risk transfer projects).

Recent examples include advising on:

• regulatory and legal developments in areas such as decumulation and guided retirement, consumer duty and value for money, and the regulation of DC master trusts
• establishing and managing DC schemes
• scheme mergers and transfers, including issues around transitioning investments and dealing with tax protections
• buy-ins and proposed scheme wind-ups (including how to deal with “difficult to insure” benefits such as underpins)
• proposals for use of surplus
• DC investment platform and governance arrangements.

I also have experience of advising corporate clients on transactions involving significant DB pension liabilities. This includes advising the buy-side on a takeover of a publicly listed company, on a proposed company voluntary arrangement, on the release of parent company guarantees and on the establishment of an asset-backed funding arrangement.

Qualified: 2018, England and Wales

Joined Sackers: 2022