The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has appointed 10 firms to its new ‘four pot’ legal panel.

The new legal panel structure will see legal services being provided across four lots, with the appointed firms supporting the PPF in the lot(s) they successfully bid for.

Subject to contract signing, the 10 firms appointed were: Addleshaw Goddard, Bird & Bird, Burges Salmon, CMS, Eversheds Sutherland, Gowling, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Mills & Reeve, Osborne Clarke, and Pinsent Masons.

Lot 1 relates to legal advisory services to the PPF board, aiming to support governance, compliance, human resources, commercial contracts, pensions, and risk management.

The second lot is asset management, whereby appointed firms will advise on investments, private funds, derivatives, and regulatory compliance.

Lot 3 focuses on real estate, with appointed firms providing legal expertise for property acquisitions, disposals, lettings, and estate management.

The fourth and final lot relates to schemes in assessment, looking to support schemes through the PPF assessment period to safeguard member benefits.

The PPF said working closely with its panels and creating long-term strategic relationships was crucial to how the pensions lifeboat works.

“We're delighted to have retained existing relationships as well as opening the door to several new ones,” the PPF stated.

“This provides our panel with a greater depth of legal experience in specialist areas to meet our requirements.

“We appreciate the strong interest shown in the panel, with an exceptional number of bids received across all four lots. We extend our sincere thanks to those who were not successful this time and appreciate the time and effort invested in submitting bids.

“We look forward to working with our panel firms to deliver exceptional outcomes for us and our stakeholders.”

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