Chris is a Partner in our Pensions team. He provides advice on a broad spectrum of pension matters to trustees, corporate sponsors, and other stakeholders, with a primary focus on deploying his strong technical ability to provide clear, actionable, and commercial guidance.
Chris has experience advising on a wide range of matters, including buy-ins, buy-outs and other innovative de-risking transactions, valuation exercises, large-scale benefit change exercises and liability management exercises, closure to accrual, and the transfer of scheme assets to master trust arrangements. He also advises on pensions tax matters, asset-backed funding arrangements, automatic enrolment obligations, and complex member disputes.
Chris's practice includes assisting in advising schemes sponsored by AXA, Willis Towers Watson, and Clarks.
Chris's recent derisking work includes assisting the trustee of the Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan on a £2.5bn PPF-plus buyout with Legal & General, and advising British American Tobacco on a series of buy-ins between the British American Tobacco UK Pension Fund and Pension Insurance Corporation, with the total value of transactions being approximately £4.1bn.
Industry recognition
Chris is a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers and has spoken at the APL's Annual Conference. He regularly engages with industry-wide bodies, having spoken at events hosted by the Society of Pensions Professionals and having chaired one of the Pensions Administration Standards Association's subcommittees.