Pensions
A&L Goodbody’s Pensions Group is a market leader and one of the largest pension practices in Ireland. Our specialist lawyers provide Irish and international, private and public sector clients with advice and experienced direction on every aspect of occupational pension schemes and personal pension arrangements.
Areas where we have particular expertise include the following:
- Restructuring defined benefit pension schemes - as market conditions continue to put defined benefit schemes under pressure, we advise employers and trustees on making changes to make pension provision more sustainable.
- Funding – we advise trustees, employers and providers of investment products on the issues relating to funding defined benefit schemes.
- Employer insolvency – we have particular expertise, having acted alongside our restructuring and insolvency team in the most high profile corporate insolvencies, in advising trustees, investors and insolvency practitioners on how to handle the appointment of a receiver, examiner or liquidator to scheme sponsors.
- Investment – we advise trustees and investment product providers on trustee investment duties, the use of different types of investment and on negotiating investment management and custody agreements.
- Mergers and acquisitions – we work closely with the firm’s M&A specialists on the pensions element of corporate transactions to facilitate the smooth transfer of pension schemes from one company to another and on dealing with legacy pension issues that may often follow a target company.
- Contentious pensions matters – we advise employers and trustees on handling complaints through schemes’ internal dispute resolution procedures and on complaints to the Pensions Ombudsman and pensions litigation before the Courts.
- Life offices - working alongside the Firm’s insurance group, we advise most of the major life offices operating in Ireland on their pension products, such as personal retirement savings accounts and sovereign annuities, and on internal restructurings.
The quality of the firm's pensions advice is very high and the depth of resources within the organisation is extremely large."
Chambers Europe 2016