Osborne Clarke has announced it has recruited a pensions team from BDB Pitmans with the agreement of the firm.
BDB Pitmans is ending its in-house pensions practice, instead working with a small number of specialist firms including Osborne Clarke, which has an office on Forbury Road.
The team will transfer over at the end of the month, and includes partners David Hosford and Chris Netiatis and three lawyers: legal director Lee Colgate and senior associates Catriona Darnell and Sarah Miller.
Osborne Clarke says the team will add significantly to its pension capacity and, from next month, it will comprise seven partners, 20 lawyers and six specialist support staff.
The new combined team will advise on all aspects of pensions law but will continue to focus on risk transfer work, including buy-ins and buy-outs as well as transfers to superfunds, Pension Protection Fund work, public sector pensions and pensions disputes for pension schemes, corporate clients and pension providers.
Osborne Clarke said that the addition of the BDB Pitmans team fulfils one of its strategic objectives of building the size and experience of its pensions practice to strengthen its services to employers and trustees on all areas of pensions law and practice.
And as part of the transfer, pension clients from BDB Pitmans can also move to Osborne Clarke, joining existing clients including the Pension Protection Fund, Local Government Pension Schemes, Imperial Tobacco and BAE Systems, to smaller schemes with assets of several million pounds.
The pensions practice is headed by Jonathan Hazlett, who said: “We’ve known David and Chris both professionally and personally for a number of years.
“We’re delighted they have decided to join Osborne Clarke.
“David, Chris and their team will add substantially to the size and expertise of our existing team here at Osborne Clarke and will allow us to better serve our national and international clients and help them respond to the challenges, opportunities and transformation drivers that the pensions industry currently faces.”
And David Hosford, head of pensions, BDB Pitmans: “We built our pensions practice at Pitmans and latterly BDB Pitmans with a dedication to excellent client service and value, and a focus on providing clear and robust advice that works in the real world.
“It has become increasingly clear that we need greater scale to be able to meet our goals and continue to develop the services we provide.
“We considered opportunities with various firms before deciding Osborne Clarke is the best fit – the team at Osborne Clarke shares our focus and values, and combining our resources brings scale, enhances an already market-leading brand, and gives us the right platform to deliver ever better client service.
“We can’t wait to start.”
