Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP

Francois is a partner and head of our Pensions group. He has nearly 20 years' experience of advising corporate sponsors and pension funds on UK and international pensions and benefits issues in relation to both defined benefit and defined contribution arrangements. He is praised by the legal directories for “having an incredible fountain of knowledge in terms of pensions issues and approaching things in a can-do and imaginative way”, for “expressing complex issues in an easy to understand way and getting his arguments across in a compelling manner", and for his “detailed knowledge of the entire regulatory landscape".

His recent experience includes:

- Advising on the full range of strategies to de-risk legacy defined benefit pension plans, including the establishment of asset backed special purpose funding structures, designed to use corporate assets, rather than cash, to meet deficits;

- Advising on new UK and EU governance and best practice requirements in relation to defined contribution plans;

- Working with a European fund management house rolling out a Luxembourg based pension plan across the EU;

- Advising on complex funding, security and guarantee packages in relation to defined benefit plans; and

- Developing aeready, Eversheds' innovative legal automatic enrolment compliance tool for UK companies.

Francois is actively involved in the development of pensions law and policy in the UK and Europe, and has helped to shape aspects of both UK and EU pensions legislation. He has advised the CBI's Pensions Panel since 2000, and is an elected member of the Pensions and Lifetime Association's DC Council. He also sits on the DC Standing Committee of Pensions Europe, and the Hundred Group Pensions Committee . He has written many articles on Pensions issues and is co-author of "Tolley's E-Pensions". He is a regular speaker at industry conferences, and is often quoted by the industry press.

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