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Portrait ofJames Parker

James Parker

Partner

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Cannon Place
78 Cannon Street
London
EC4N 6AF
United Kingdom
Languages English, French, German

James Parker is a partner in the Pensions team and a member of the Pensions De-Risking team, a specialist, multi-disciplinary team devoted to transactions in the longevity risk transfer market.

James' practice spans domestic and international corporate, insurance, reinsurance and structured finance transactions. He has a long-established reputation as a leader in the longevity and pension de-risking market, having acted on many of the largest and highest-profile transactions announced to date.  

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James is valued by his clients for his “commerciality”, “dedication” and “proactivity”.

James was first ranked in Chambers in 2013. In 2016, James receives praise for his work on pension de-risking and longevity transactions. Sources say he "knows his onions" and has an ability to "explain things in simple ways."

James’ experience is described by his clients as “unique in the market. There is a lot of value add.” He is described by the CEO of one of his principal clients as simply “great; I would recommend him to anyone.”

"James is recommended as a leader and profiled for his work on Derivatives & Structured Products."

Legal 500

Relevant experience

  • Pension Insurance Corporation in relation to the GBP 1.6bn bulk annuity pension buy-in policy with the Total UK Pension Scheme and the associated reinsurance arrangements.
  • SCOR Global Life in relation to the GBP 5 billion reinsurance of the Aviva Staff Pension Scheme, a pension fund of Aviva Life & Pensions UK Ltd.
  • Abbey Life Assurance Company Limited in relation to a GBP 2bn longevity insurance transaction with the Trustee of the ScottishPower Pension Scheme and the associated reinsurance arrangements.
  • SCOR Global Life in relation to the reinsurance of a CAD 5bn longevity insurance transaction between Sun Life Assurance Company and the Bell Canada pension plan, the first such transaction in Canada.
  • Abbey Life Assurance Company Limited in relation to a GBP 500m longevity insurance transaction with the trustees of the Rolls-Royce & Bentley Pension Fund and the associated reinsurance arrangements with Hannover Re.
  • SCOR Global Life in relation to the 50% quota share reinsurance of EUR 1.4 billion of longevity/mortality risk hedged by Blue Square Re, Aegon's group reinsurer.
  • The Trustees of the PGL Pensions Scheme in relation to the GBP 900 million longevity insurance transaction with Phoenix Life Limited (Phoenix), part of Phoenix Group Holdings, a FTSE 250 company.
  • SCOR Global Life in relation to the reinsurance of a proportion of the GBP 3bn longevity risk written by Deutsche Bank AG in derivative form with the trustees of the Rolls-Royce UK Pension Scheme
  • Abbey Life Assurance Company Limited in relation to a GBP 3bn longevity insurance transaction with the trustees of the BMW UK Pension Scheme and the associated reinsurance arrangements.
  • The Trustees of the Pall UK Pension Scheme on the first index-based longevity derivative covering deferred members. 
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Publications

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Education

  • 1995 - BA French and German, Bristol University, Bristol
  • 1997- College of Law, Guildford
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Feed

14/03/2024
CMS advises Rothesay on £6bn bulk annuity portfolio acquisition
International law firm CMS has advised Rothesay on the acquisition of a Scottish Widows £6bn bulk annuity portfolio from Scottish Widows, a member of the Lloyds Banking Group. The transaction is initially...
08/08/2023
CMS Pensions Investment and Risk Briefing
Welcome to the third edition of the CMS Pensions team’s Investment and Risk publication, our latest briefing on topical issues facing occupational pension schemes in the risk and investment spheres...
05/12/2022
CMS advises Trustees of Musicians’ Union Pension Fund on transaction with...
CMS advised the Trustees of the Musicians’ Union Permanent Officials and Staff Pension Fund on the recent £13m bulk purchase annuity full buy-out transaction by Aviva, the UK insurance, wealth & retirement...
30/11/2022
CMS advises Balfour Beatty Pension Fund Trustee on £1.7bn longevity transaction
International law firm CMS has advised the Trustee of Balfour Beatty Pension Fund (the Trustee) in relation to its £1.7 billion longevity transaction with SCOR and Zurich Assurance. CMS advised on all...
21/09/2022
CMS Pensions Briefing: Investment and Risk
Welcome to our latest briefing on topical issues facing occupational pension schemes in the risk and investment spheres. Since our last edition, risk and investment issues continue to dominate the agendas...
21/09/2022
CMS Pensions Briefing | Investment and Risk
Welcome to our latest briefing on topical issues facing occupational pension schemes in the risk and investment spheres. Since our last edition, risk and investment issues continue to dominate the agendas...
16/06/2022
CMS advises De La Rue Trustee on £320m buy-in with Scottish Widows
International law firm CMS has advised the Trustee of De La Rue Pension Scheme (the Trustee) in relation to its £320m buy-in with Scottish Widows. The transaction covers the liabilities for approximately...
23/02/2022
Download the latest ‘CMS Pensions LawCast’ episode #37 – Update on the...
Hosted by CMS Pensions experts this series looks ahead at the key issues developing in the pensions sector with a specific focus on what you need to know, and practically, what you need to do. In this...
15/02/2022
CMS advises SCOR on £5.5bn Lloyds Bank longevity transaction
International law firm CMS has advised SCOR, one of the world's largest reinsurers, in connection with its £5.5 billion longevity reinsurance transaction, covering liabilities of over 17,000 members...
10/02/2022
CMS advises Heathrow’s BAA Pension Scheme on £370m buy-in with Legal &...
International law firm CMS has acted for the Trustee of London Heathrow’s BAA Pension Scheme (the Scheme) in relation to its c£370m buy-in with Legal & General Assurance Society Limited (Legal & Gen­er­al). The...
14/01/2022
CMS advises Imperial Tobacco Pension Fund on £1.8bn buy-in with Standard...
International law firm CMS has advised the Imperial Tobacco Pension Fund (“The Fund”) in relation to its £1.8bn bulk purchase annuity transaction with Standard Life, covering benefits of 6,600 defined...
20/10/2021
CMS Pensions Briefing: Investment and Risk
Welcome to our latest briefing on topical issues facing occupational pension schemes in the risk and investment spheres.A key theme for the past six months since our previous briefing has been the growth...