Mark Smith
Mark is a partner in the Employment and Pensions Practice Group and he specialises in pensions law.
Mark is experienced at advising employers and trustees on the full range of pensions issues. He has acted in relation to a wide range of schemes, including those of FSTE 100 companies, public sector bodies and charities. He has also acted as a trustee of various schemes through a trustee company.
1 Contributions by Mark Smith
PRACTICE NOTES
Occupational pension scheme investments: asset classes, trustee duties and restrictions (including ERI and derivatives); LDI, collective vehicles, productive finance and social impact, securitisation, and TPR scrutiny of private markets
THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES STOP PRESS :
On 8 December 2025, TPR unveiled a programme examining how DC and DB pension schemes approach allocating to growth assets, and identifying obstacles to investing in private markets and infrastructure. Through targeted engagement with investment consultancies, schemes and industry representative bodies, TPR is collecting market insight on opportunities, vehicles, constraints and enablers, with a particular focus on UK opportunities and investment routes. The regulator’s attention is on schemes of meaningful scale that are weighing, or have the capacity to pursue, investments in private markets and related assets. This outreach is scheduled to conclude by end‑2025; TPR will then share outcomes with government and issue a market oversight report in 2026. Executive Director Julian Lyne signalled that, where schemes do not meet required standards, TPR will invite trustees to consider whether consolidation into larger vehicles with stronger investment capabilities would be in savers’ interests. For further information, see TPR probes barriers to investment in private markets and infrastructure that could deliver better returns for savers and LNB News 08/12/2025 53...
Pensions
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