Charlotte is a consultant in the Pensions team. She advises clients on a range of issues alongside a strategic role in thought leadership, client relationship management and business development.
Charlotte joined Travers Smith in 2014 from The Pensions Regulator (TPR). She has particular expertise in the Pensions law aspects of employer covenant and TPR's powers. She also has an interest in defined contribution (DC), Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and ESG.
At the Pensions Regulator, Charlotte advised on major developments in defined benefit (DB) legislative change, strategy and operations between 2007 and 2014. These included the new clearance guidance and policy, major changes to anti-avoidance powers, the Regulator's input into employer debt legislation, the Regulated Apportionment Arrangement statement and policy, the importance of statutory "employer" definitions and other legal aspects of covenant, policy responses to market developments (including asset-backed-contributions), and responses to Lehman, Bonas and other judgments. She was also involved in a number of high-profile anti-avoidance and other cases.
Charlotte chaired The Pensions Regulator's DB and DC legal team for many years and as part of the DB Management Team she advised executive directors and senior colleagues on aspects of DB regulation as well as on TPR-wide strategic matters. She sat on TPR's risk committee and various other management panels. On legislative change she consulted with industry bodies and other stakeholders, and worked closely with government, the Pension Protection Fund and parliamentary counsel. She spoke regularly at conferences and other events.
Charlotte trained and qualified at another leading City practice, where she advised trustee, employer and private equity clients on the full range of pensions issues, including corporate transactions with a pension scheme focus.
Charlotte is a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers, the DC Governance Group, and the steering committee of the Pensions Equity Group. She was a member of TPR's EDI industry working group and helped to write TPR's EDI guidance. Charlotte also contributed to the PLSA Diversity and Inclusion Made Simple Guide and the DC Governance Group/PLSA DC Chair's Statement Drafting Template and she has contributed several articles to pensions and legal publications and spoken at conferences. She is an active member of Travers Smith's Enable Group. And she was one of the first members of the Travers Smith team providing award-winning pro bono advice to Refugees at Home, a charity which was set up in close partnership with the firm's CSR Programme. Outside of the legal industry, Charlotte sits on various disability panels and groups and has been involved in a number of grassroots activities for refugees.