Mark Howard
Of Counsel
London
Mark is the Of Counsel in our Pensions Team.
Mark has over 20 years' experience advising on pensions law, and has advised trustees and corporates across a variety of sectors. His areas of expertise include advising on scheme amendments, trustee liability insurance and pension scheme de-risking. Immediately before joining Herbert Smith Freehills, Mark was General Counsel (Pensions and Financial Services) at Smart Pension, one of the largest UK master trusts. He was also head of pensions at an international law firm for over a decade and has spent six months on secondment at the Pension Protection Fund.
Experience & expertise
Selected matters
- on bulk transfers to master trust schemes, including on the winding up of a master trust*
- advising a life insurer on its entry into the UK bulk annuity market. This included development of its standard bulk annuity documentation, and subsequently advising on a number of transactions*
- advising pension trustee liability underwriters on policy wordings and coverage of complex claims*
- advising on the Covpress Pension Scheme "rescue" from PPF assessment. The first time that a scheme had been rescued by an independent third party from PPF assessment*
- advising on Part 8 applications on the construction of trust deeds and rules.*
*Experience gained prior to working at Herbert Smith Freehills
