Increased life expectancy, volatile markets and unpredictable deficits are pushing employers and trustees of DB pension arrangements towards increasingly sophisticated investment solutions.

Our specialist finance and investment lawyers have provided straightforward, pragmatic advice on all the key derisking solutions for many years. We advise on liability or cashflow driven investment (LDI/CDI) strategies, as well as tools to help reduce longevity risk such as buy-ins and buy-outs and synthetic buy-ins, longevity swaps, and the full range of alternative investment structures.

Our experts work with trustees to highlight and advise on the latest issues on their agendas, including proposed changes to Investment Regulations and ESG.

Recent experience

• Advising the trustees of the Mowlem (1993) Pension  Scheme on a £150m PPF+ buy-out transaction, securing the benefits of over 360 deferred members and 650 retirees.
• Advising the trustees of the National Grid UK Pension Scheme on a £800m buy-in with Rothesay Life.
• Advising RockRose Energy (Marathon Services (GB) Limited Pension and Life assurance scheme) on a £610m buy-in Rothesay Life.
• Advising the trustees of the Siemens Benefits Scheme on a £530m buy-in with L&G.
• Advising the trustees of the Smiths Industries Pension Scheme on a £146m buy-in with Canada Life.
• Advising the trustees of the TI Group Pension Scheme on a £142m buy-in with Aviva.
• Advising the Trustee of HSBC Bank (UK) Pension Scheme on a £7bn longevity swap with PICA (the second largest ever deal for a UK pension scheme).
• Advising the trustees of the Smiths Industries Pension Scheme on two buy-outs with Canada Life for £210m and £176m respectively.
• Advising Groupe PSA (company) on the Peugeot Advanced Pension Plan’s £140m buy-in with Scottish Widows.
• Advising the trustees of the Reuters Pension Fund on their £625m buy-in with Canada Life, the insurers largest ever deal.
• Advising the Trustee of the Siemens Benefit Scheme on their £1.3bn buy-in with PIC.
• Advising the Trustee of the Royal Mail Pension Plan, Post Office Limited section, on their £450m buy-in with Rothesay Life.
• Advising the Trustee of the Tullet Prebon Pension Scheme on their £270m all-risks buy-in with Rothesay Life.
• Advising the Trustee of the Blackwell’s Pension Fund on the transition of the buy-in transacted in 2015 to a full buy-out with PIC and a wind-up of the scheme which completed in June 2017.
• Advising the trustees of the Northern Bank Pension Scheme on a £680m buy-in with Prudential, putting in place a collateralised security structure.
• Advising the Trustee of the Cancer Research Pension Scheme on their £250m buy-in with Canada Life
• Advising the Trustee of the National Grid UK Pension Scheme on establishing a long term strategic partnership between the trustees and Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), which involved the sale of the scheme’s in-house investment manager Aerion Fund Management and the ongoing management of £13bn of scheme assets
• Advising the Trustee of the CDC pension scheme on the new insurance capital rules affecting their longevity swap, which had to be split for different insured populations, and further into the individual contract components reflecting the longevity insurance and the embedded total return swap and collateral obligations.