Overview
Philip has significant experience advising trustees, corporates and insurers on all areas of pensions law.
His expertise extends to de-risking buy-in and buy-out transactions, end-game strategy and planning, scheme mergers, liability mitigation exercises, investment issues, scheme funding negotiations and bespoke funding arrangements, stressed scheme situations, and corporate transactions and restructurings.
Philip has advised many clients, including the trustees of the Marks and Spencer pension scheme, the Societe Generale pension scheme, the Tesco pension scheme, the Co-operative Group pension scheme, the Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund, (for corporates) British Airways, Vodafone, HSBC, NatWest, Nestle, Cadent Gas and Rothesay Life (on pensions bulk annuity policies).
Work Highlights
Philip has advised on many well known industry cases. Career highlights include advising:
- The Co-operative Group pension scheme trustee on the sectionalisation of the scheme following the separation of the Co-op Group and Co-op Bank, and the full buy-in of all £8bn of liabilities across multiple de-risking transactions with Rothesay, Aviva and PIC.
- The M&S Pension Scheme trustee on six buy-in contracts totalling £4.1bn of liabilities.
- Rothesay on multiple buy-in transactions, including in respect of the NatWest Group Pension Fund and the Allied Domecq Pension Scheme.
- The trustee of the RHM Pension Scheme in respect of the innovative strategic merger with two other pension schemes in the Premier Foods plc corporate group.
- Uber in relation to its pensions auto-enrolment obligations.
- Arcadia/Taveta on the high-profile regulatory dispute regarding the BHS pension scheme, specifically designing the structure of the solution which kept BHS members out of the Pension Protection Fund and negotiating the settlement.
- A large FTSE 100 company on an innovative buy-in using a captive re-insurer.
- Eastman Kodak on a groundbreaking settlement arising from a £2bn deficit in its UK pension scheme, which entailed a RAA and setting up a new UK pension scheme with reduced benefits into which members could transfer.
- The trustee of the Uniq plc Pension Scheme on its industry-first debt for equity swap restructuring and subsequently on its purchase of a bulk annuity policy with Rothesay Life securing PPF+ level benefits for all remaining members.
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