CMS crowned UK Pensions Lawyers of the Year at the Professional Pensions UK Pensions Awards 2020

International law firm CMS is pleased to announce that the firm’s Pensions team has been named “UK Pensions Lawyers of the Year” at the Professional Pensions UK Pensions Awards 2020. 

Judged by a panel of 50 senior scheme managers, trustees and advisers, the Professional Pensions UK Pensions Awards celebrate the advisers and providers offering the highest level of innovation, performance and service to occupational pension schemes and their members. 

The CMS Pensions team has been recognised by Professional Pensions for its market-leading work over the last 12 months. The team’s successes include advising on the UK’s biggest ever pensions buy-out transaction (Stanhope Pension Trust’s £4.7 billion deal with Rothesay Life), advising LifeSight to become the first authorised master trust under the Pensions Regulator’s new authorisation regime and advising the Trustee of the LV= Employee Pension Scheme on the conversion of a longevity swap into an £800 million buy-in.

Mark Grant, CMS partner and Head of Pensions, comments: “No other pensions team can match our depth of expertise and resource or our range of experience and reach. We are delighted that our position at the forefront of the market has been recognised by Professional Pensions with this highly respected industry accolade. It reinforces our ability to be agile and offer clients innovative legal solutions that they need to adapt to the market’s changing conditions. After a successful year supporting our clients on a number of complex transactions, we look forward to the year ahead.”

This latest award win completes a hat-trick of successes for the CMS Pensions team. Over the last 12 months, CMS has been named “Pensions Law Firm of the Year” by three of the pension industry’s leading awards. In 2019, the firm was crowned “European Pensions Law Firm of the Year” at the European Pensions Awards and then in 2020 CMS was named “Pension Law Firm of the Year” at the Pensions and Investment Provider Awards, winning this award for the second consecutive year. The team has also recently been recognised at the Professional Pensions Rising Star Awards where it won the “Supporting Development” category. The judges commended CMS on its well-rounded approach to the professional development of its pensions lawyers.