Parminder Latimer

Expertise

I am a trusted advisor to my clients, part of their team, understanding “their” issues, resolving “their” issues.

I have over three decades of experience in the Pensions industry advising on all types of pensions legal complex issues.

Whilst I advise my clients on areas of pensions law, I have developed particular niches in this already niche area of pensions law: i) in pension disputes, including advising companies, trustees and individuals on internal dispute resolution procedures (IDRP), through to rectification, construction, amendment powers, highlighted by leading teams to the Court of Appeal in high profile pensions litigation cases, and ii) in corporate transactions, advising employers and trustees of pension funds, as well as handling Clearance Applications to the Pensions Regulator.

I am known for working well with all parties to achieve a successful, commercial and common sense outcome.

Working as a Professional Trustee of a large award-winning professional trustee company for over 10 years, managing several trustee appointments enabled me to anticipate actions of both trustees and corporates alike.  I have continued my role as a professional trustee by becoming an Associate Director of gcTrustees.

Experience Highlights

• Devising a streamlined death in service trustee decision process, for a global German car manufacturer, based in the UK.  Reducing costs and time by being the initial point of contact for all death cases, collecting in all relevant information and presenting reports to the Trustees to enable them to make quick decisions so benefits can be paid in a timely fashion.  This process reduced the number of complaints drastically and legal spend for my client.
• Leading negotiations and securing suitable mitigation on large-scale pensions consultation exercises in relation to scheme closures and scheme amendments.
• Acting for individuals, trustees, corporates, family run pension schemes on a whole range of pensions dispute cases, including internal dispute cases, maladministration complaints, Pensions Ombudsman applications, court cases involving errors in scheme documentation, errors in historical equalisation exercises.
• Advising and negotiating on corporate M&A transactions, including dealing with Clearance applications to the Pensions Regulator, advising on PPF+ deals.
• Advising clients in relation to the Pensions Regulator’s intervention and penalties and the continuing changes in the law in this area.
• Advising small to medium sized schemes on a range of tricky pensions legal issues, and governance issues.

Career History

Previous Law firms

• Simmons & Simmons ⸺ Of Counsel
• Freeths ⸺ Partner, Head of Pensions
• BDB Pitmans (formerly Pitmans) ⸺ Director

Memberships and Pension Industry Highlights

• Association of Pensions Lawyers
• Finalist and awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the Lawyer of the Year category, in the Professional Pensions Women in Pensions Awards 2022
• Ranked as a Recommended Lawyer in the Legal 500 2023
• Nominated for the Professional Pensions, Women in Pensions Awards 2019
• Ambassador of Insuring Women’s Futures Group

Education

• University of Leicester
• Guildford College of Law