Aperçu

Mayer Brown’s dedicated Pensions Investment practice is led by Duncan Watson and is focused on the investment of pension and other retirement plan assets.

Investments: We have significant experience advising pension schemes on all aspects of investment work, including the review of investment funds (and negotiating fund documentation when required), investment management agreements, liability-driven investment mandates, fiduciary management agreements, insurance-based investments, transition management, pre-funding agreements and custody. We advise on at least 50 fund reviews and management agreements every year, from the very standard through to ultra-complex models (including bespoke).

Tax: We advise on the tax consequences of investments, particularly whether a pension scheme could be considered as trading which could result in it losing tax exemptions, and also advising on the structuring of investments for tax purposes.

Derivatives: Our industry-leading Derivatives team negotiates derivative contracts for pension scheme clients, and advises pension schemes on their regulatory compliance.

Expérience

£150 million fund investment – We reviewed and negotiated the fund documents of a fund in which our client was a key investor. This was obviously a very large investment, was time- pressured and the fund had a complex investment strategy.
£4 billion fiduciary management mandate – We acted for a large pension scheme in its appointment of a fiduciary manager and we successfully negotiated a number of departures from the manager’s standard position.
Electricity Supply Pension Scheme – We are the sole legal adviser to the Scheme Trustee on investment issues, and we advise on all day-to-day investment work such as reviewing and negotiating all investment transactions made by its 24 groups to ensure compliance with the requirements of the scheme’s governing documents.

We have reviewed and negotiated a diverse range of funds and segregated mandates sponsored or managed by a wide range of managers including the following and many other significant names:
- 1Sharpe
- Aberdeen Standard Investments, Adept, AHL, Alcentra Asset Management Limited, Alliance Bernstein, Alvarium Investments, AMX, Apiary Capital, Ares, Ashmore, Asperior Investment Funds, Audax Private Debt, Aviva Life & Pensions
- Baillie Gifford, Bain Capital, Beach Point, Bidwells, Bluebay, Bow River Capital, Brigade Capital Management, Brown Advisory
- Capstone, Cardano, CarVal Investors, Chorus Capital, Coller Capital, CQS, Crabel, CVC Capital Partners
- Debt Investment Opportunities, Dorsal Capital, DSAM Partners, Dymon Asia
- Egerton Capital, EMSO Asset Management, EQT Group, Equitix
- First Sentier Investors, First State
- Global Infrastructure Partners, GoldenTree, GQG Capital, GreenOak Europe, Gresham, GSA Capital
- Hayfin, Hermes Investment Management, HPS Investment Partners
- ICG (Intermediate Capital Group), IFM Investors, III Capital, Inflexion, Infracapital, Innisfree, Insight, Invesco, Iron Park Capital Partners
- Janus Henderson
- Lazard, Legal & General, Lexington, LGT Capital
- M&G, Man Group, Marshall Wace, Mercer
- Nordea
- Octopus, Orchard Global
- Partners Capital, Pantheon, Permira
- Resolution Capital, Ruffer, Russell
- Sands Capital, Schroders, SECOR, SEI Investments, State Street, Stonepeak, Sun Capital Partners, Systematica, Systima Capital Management
- The Carlyle Group, Tor Investment Management, TwentyFour Asset Management
- Van Lanschot Kempen, Voya
- Wellington, WIC Solutions