Recent years have seen an increased regulatory focus on investment (in the context of integrated risk management for scheme funding), as well as increasing market and Government awareness of the size of pension scheme deficits in an economic climate of falling gilt yields and forecasts of low investment returns.
Our clients include the trustees or sponsors of pension funds with over £100 billion of assets, as well as major players in local government infrastructure pooling.
Our pensions investment practice includes market-leading specialists in financial services and markets, derivatives and structured products and investment funds. Our pension scheme clients need a full service law firm, but also one where all the lawyers have an acute awareness of the unique concerns and perspectives of pension scheme trustees, including in relation to risk appetite and governance.
Our pensions investment specialists advise on the full range of pension investment options, including liability driven investment (LDI) mandates, investment management agreements (IMAs), investment insurance policies, transition management agreements, fiduciary management, funds (regulated and unregulated, long-only, private equity and venture capital, infrastructure, debt, real estate, structured finance, hedge funds and listed funds), derivatives and repo, risk hedging, custody arrangements, clearing and collateral management and structured products and the impact of associated regulation.
Our team has deep expertise advising pensions investors, but our experience is not confined to that. Our market-leading work for other financial market players (including asset managers) gives us an unrivalled perspective from which to advise our pensions clients. Despite this, we rarely run into conflicts.
We advise our pension clients on all aspects of risk management, including security and contingent assets, guarantees and funding structures and buy-in and buyout contracts and longevity transactions.
We also provide specialist advice on how pension schemes can respond to developing law and practice relating to ESG and sustainability. For more details, please visit our Sustainable Business Hub.
Industry appointments
As well as our pensions industry appointments we are appointed to a range of industry groups and bodies in the investment market, including:
- Chairing the Regulatory Committee of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), which represents both general partners and limited partner investors.
- Chairing the Tax, Legal and Regulatory Committee of Invest Europe (the EU private equity trade association), which also represents all market participants.
- The Alternative Credit Council (the global trade association for debt funds, including direct lending funds).
- The Alternative Investment Management Association (the trade association for hedge funds), including membership of the OTC Derivatives Working Group.
- The Buy-Side Scoping Forum and Brexit Committee of the Financial Markets Law Committee.
- The Finance and Regulatory Committees of the City of London Law Society.
- The Investment Sub-Committee and the Brexit Working Group of the Association of Pensions Lawyers.
- The ISDA (the International Swaps and Derivatives Association) EMIR Consultative Group.
- The International Capital Markets Association.
- The Investment Association.
- The Futures Industry Association.
See our full list of industry appointments here.
