Philip Goss

Philip has significant experience advising trustees and corporates on all areas of pensions law. His expertise extends to de-risking buy-in and buy-out transactions, scheme mergers, liability mitigation exercises (including Pension Increase Exchange (PIE) and Enhanced Transfer Value (ETV) exercises), investment issues, scheme funding and bespoke funding arrangements, regulated apportionment arrangements (RAAs) and other stressed scheme situations, and corporate transactions and restructurings.

Philip has advised many clients, including the trustees of the Marks and Spencer pension scheme, the Tesco pension scheme, the Co-operative pension scheme, the Credit Suisse pension fund and the Centrica Combined Common Investment Fund, and (for corporates) British Airways, RBS and Rothesay Life (on pensions bulk annuity policies).

Work highlights

Philip has advised on many well known industry cases. Career highlights include advising:

• the M&S Pension Scheme trustee on four buy-in contracts totalling £2.9bn of liabilities;
• Uber in relation to its pensions auto-enrolment obligations;
• the Co-op Scheme Trustee on the sectionalisation of the scheme following the separation of the Co-op Group and Co-op Bank;
• Arcadia/Taveta on the high-profile regulatory dispute regarding the BHS pension scheme, specifically designing the structure of the solution which kept BHS members out of the Pension Protection Fund and negotiating the settlement;
• a large FTSE 100 company on an innovative buy-in using a captive re-insurer (in 2017);
• Eastman Kodak on a groundbreaking settlement arising from a £2bn deficit in its UK pension scheme, which entailed a RAA and setting up a new UK pension scheme with reduced benefits into which members could transfer;
• the trustee of the Uniq plc Pension Scheme on its industry-first debt for equity swap restructuring and subsequently on its purchase of a bulk annuity policy with Rothesay Life securing PPF+ level benefits for all remaining members. 

Philip is a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers (APL) and the International Pension & Employee Benefits Lawyers Association (PLSA). He designed and presented parts of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA)’s education offering for its members.

Philip is a regular speaker at industry events such as the PLSA’s annual and investment conferences, Professional Pensions’ conferences and R3 (Insolvency body) conferences.

Philip studied law at Brunel University.