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Defined benefit 

Deep and wide expertise in occupational, commercial and public sector defined benefit (DB) pensions. With over thirty years’ experience, we deliver reliable support and commercial solutions for our clients.

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We work in partnership with our clients and their advisory teams on projects, the running of their schemes, and drafting documents.

We support trustees to improve the governance of schemes and manage potential risks. We have extensive experience of guiding trustees through tricky issues including corporate transactions, funding negotiations (including moral hazard) and the management of past errors.

Our pensions lawyers advise employers on the impact of their pension obligations on their business, supporting them to achieve their corporate goals such as restructuring, scheme merger, benefit change, funding or liability management.

Our aim is always to give clear and pragmatic advice, to draft complex documents in plain English and to be a pleasure to work with.

Services

Our DB pension experts can assist with a wide range of defined benefit advice for trustees and employers.

  • Liability management exercises and long-term journey planning, risk transfer and end-game planning.
  • Managing surpluses, including the possibility of run-on.
  • Risk analysis of scheme documentation and correction of errors and pensions disputes.
  • Managing funding deficits including all types of contingent assets.
  • Advising on pensions regulatory matters and DB aspects of corporate transactions.
  • Benefit changes.
  • GMP equalisation.
  • Merging and splitting of schemes.
  • Drafting and amending scheme trust deeds and rules and other related documents.
  • Winding-up including trustee protections.
  • Advising on the HMRC pensions tax regime.

  • Governance issues and risk management, including compliance with the Pensions Regulator’s General Code, ESG obligations, cyber risk management, other Codes of Practice and dashboards.
  • Exercising trustees’ duties, powers and discretions.
  • Contractual relations with providers and advisers.
  • Advice on member queries and complaints.
  • Trustee training sessions and away days.
  • Member communications.

  • Strategies for journey planning, including possibility of run-on.
  • Strategies for amending, reconstructing and terminating pension schemes.
  • Exercising employer’s duties, powers and discretions under pension schemes.
  • Advising on public service pension schemes including admission as part of outsourcing arrangements.
  • Auto-enrolment compliance, and pensions issues relating to recruitment, redundancy and dismissal, and otherwise in employment contracts.
  • Life assurance trusts for death in service arrangements, including excepted group life trusts and registered schemes.

Our team

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Examples of our work

Leonardo pension schemes

Advised on the closure to accrual of two DB schemes (£1.2 billion, £1.5 billion) and provided lead advice on harmonising three trustee boards into one trustee board overseeing all three schemes (including extensive trustee training). We have also advised on previous benefit restructuring, documentation projects and GMP equalisation.

AT&T pension scheme

Advising in relation to buy-in, guarantee arrangements, trustee protections, GMP equalisation, benefit specification queries, use of surplus, cyber and data protection issues, providing General Code and scheme governance advice and drafting scheme documentation.

Clarks

Advised on the pensions aspects of the refinancing and restructuring of the business, working with the pension trustees and other stakeholders to ensure that the c. £1.1 billion Clarks pension fund is properly supported.

FirstGroup

Advising on a range of pension issues including its participation in the LGPS, the Railways Pension Scheme and the merger of its two defined benefit occupational pension schemes.

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What others say

“The team I work with are very well versed on our pension scheme and the trust deed and rules. They are able to call on internal expertise from colleagues if specialist knowledge is required.”

Chambers UK 2024

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Insights

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