Tom McNaughton
Tom is a Partner in the London office's Pensions Practice Group.
Tom advises both pension scheme trustees and their sponsoring employers in various industries, with particular experience in relation to industry-wide schemes. He covers a variety of areas including advising in relation to pension scheme mergers, de-risking exercises, corporate transactions and re-organisations, scheme benefit redesigns and restructurings (including closures to accrual and other liability management exercises). He also advises on a number of contentious matters as part of the Pensions Department's pensions disputes practice.
Representative clients
Significant clients which Tom advises include the Trustee of the Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund, a large industry-wide scheme.
Recent maters on which Tom has advised include:
- Advising the Trustee of the Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund on various de-risking and insurance transactions as part of its strategic journey planning.
- Acting in relation to litigation regarding potential changes to the inflation linking of defined benefit pension obligations.
- Supporting a global technology firm on a strategic pensions consolidation exercise involving a one-time contribution of employer group shares through a bespoke funding vehicle.
Practice Area
Panel
- Consulting Editorial Board
Qualified Year
- 2009
Experience
- Squire Patton Boggs (fka Hammonds) (2007 - 2012)
Membership
- Association of Pensions Lawyers—Education and Seminars Committee
Qualifications
- BPP Law School—LPC (2007)
- BPP Law School—GDL (2006)
Education
- University of Cambridge—MPhil (2005)
- University of Cambridge—MA (2004)
2 Contributions by Tom McNaughton
PRACTICE NOTES
Secretary to Pension Trustees: Legal and Governance Responsibilities, Meeting Administration, Minutes, Action Tracking, Conflicts and Corporate Trustee Company Secretarial Issues
Over recent years, the secretary to pension trustees has seen a marked shift in responsibilities and is now central to keeping a scheme operating efficiently. This Practice Note sets out the legal and governance points that those taking on the position should understand, and clarifies what the appointment involves from a legal and governance perspective.
Change in the role of secretary
The operation of trust-based pension schemes has evolved markedly over the last ten years, elevating the secretary's significance. Previously, with fewer anxieties around funding and a softer regulatory regime, the secretary often served quietly as a recorder of minutes. Now, because trustees face heavier workloads and heightened expectations, the secretary's contribution must be broader. Typically, the secretary takes an active hand in managing the scheme, participating fully in trustee meetings and co-ordinating actions in the periods between them. At times, the secretary to the trustees will also be outward-facing to scheme members, appearing within the team administering the scheme or acting as a contact point for the membership. In short, the secretary is no longer a background figure but a key participant in scheme governance...
Pensions
PRACTICE NOTES
Trustee and Director Liability in Trust-based Occupational Pension Schemes: Exoneration, Indemnities, Insurance and Statutory Defences (England and Wales)
THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO TRUST-BASED OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES
Trustees can face personal liability if a breach of trust leads to loss for the pension scheme. This may arise where trustees:
operate beyond the powers set out in the scheme’s trust deed and rules, or
fail to comply with legislation or the law of trusts.
Trustees should ensure that sufficient safeguards exist to protect them against personal liability. With pensions legislation becoming increasingly complex, trustees who do not seek appropriate advice and who lack the necessary knowledge and skills are liable to make errors when administering pension schemes.
Directors of a corporate trustee are generally considered to have stronger protection from personal liability than individual trustees. In the absence of dishonesty, the court is unlikely to permit a claim against those directors for a breach of trust by the trustee company, mainly because of the operation of the ‘corporate veil’, discussed further below (see: Protection for directors of trustee companies)...
Pensions
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