Simmons hires five-strong DLA pensions team amid buoyant de-risking market

Simmons & Simmons has made a play in the booming pensions de-risking market, hiring DLA Piper’s Amrit Mclean as its new global head of pensions de-risking alongside four senior lawyers from her team.

Mclean, one of the UK’s leading specialists in pensions risk transfer (PRT) deals, is DLA’s head of pensions de-risking and UK insurance sector lead. She joined the firm in 2019 from Aviva and previously held senior roles at Legal & General. The team will join Simmons on 3 November.

A booming market

Mclean has advised on several high-profile de-risking transactions, acting for insurers including Royal London, Aviva and Legal & General. Recent work includes Royal London’s £275 million buy-in with Grant Thornton’s pension fund and Aviva’s £230 million deal with Morrisons’ pension scheme, while last year she advised Legal & General on a £1.1 billion buy-in with Deutsche Bank’s scheme.

Her arrival comes as the pensions risk transfer market continues to grow rapidly. Earlier this year, specialist consultancy Hymans Robertson predicted 2025 would be a record year for UK deal volumes.

Major insurers such as Legal & General and Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) remain key players, with recent major transactions including Rolls-Royce’s £4.3 billion buy-in with PIC which saw a host of firms involved, including Hogan Lovells, Linklaters and Addleshaw Goddard.

The buoyant market is proving equally attractive for investors. In July, Apollo-backed European insurance group Athora agreed a deal to buy PIC for £5.7 billion, in a deal led by Sidley Austin, A&O Shearman, Slaughters and HSF Kramer.  

At Simmons, the firm said Mclean will deepen its buy-side capabilities for insurers and complement its existing sell-side work advising trustees and scheme sponsors - expanding its coverage across a market that has become increasingly important to the UK’s legal and financial sectors.

What they said

Danny Tsang, head of Simmons’ pensions and incentives team, called the hire "an important step" that takes the firm’s client offering "to the next level." He added: "Amrit’s reputation in pensions de-risking, particularly on the buy-side for insurers, is unmatched."

Mclean said she was "very excited to join Simmons at this time of expansion and growth," pointing to the firm’s strong asset management base and "formidable AI capabilities" as key to "supercharging our offering to the market and de-risking insurers."