Rosalind Knowles

Rosalind advises trustees and companies on all aspects of pensions law, including trust law and regulatory advice.  She has specialist expertise in benefit change programmes, valuation negotiations (including involvement from The Pensions Regulator), and funding (including contingent assets), buy-out, investment and governance issues. Rosalind also regularly advises on executive arrangements and on the pension aspects of corporate takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, and reorganisations (including clearance). 

Rosalind leads the Pensions Investment Practice, which brings together experts from the firm’s investment management, derivatives and structured products and pensions teams to provide the firm’s clients with cost-effective, user-friendly advice on their investment matters. Roz is also the Knowledge & Learning partner for the Pensions practice.

Work highlights

Rosalind has advised on a wide range of complex pensions schemes. Those that can be disclosed include advising:

• British Airways on its funding negotiations with the trustees
• AXA UK on its pension schemes, pensions increase exchange, asset-backed contribution structure, switch to defined contribution benefit provision, longevity swap and subsequent funding discussions and business disposal of Elevate, its wrap platform business
• Centrica plc (in relation to benefit changes) and Unilever PLC (in relation to its pension schemes generally)
• the trustees of MMC UK Pension Fund, Tesco PLC Pension Scheme, Marks & Spencer Pension Scheme, Barclays UK Retirement Fund
• TPT Retirement Solutions, a multi-employer master trust

Rosalind has served as a member of the main and investment sub-committees of the Association of Pension Lawyers (APL) and sits on the Policy and Public Affairs Committee of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI). She is FPMI-qualified.

Rosalind speaks regularly at conferences, including the main conferences organised by Pensions and Lifetime Association (PLSA), the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) and the Trustee Conference of the PMI.

Rosalind wrote the chapter on pensions in Private Equity: a transactional analysis, Globe Law & Business, 2007. 

Rosalind studied law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University.

She speaks English and French.