Jane Kola

Practice Areas

With over 30 years' experience in pensions law, Jane has developed an expertise in advising trustees and employers on workplace pension arrangements, offering guidance on the establishment, management, restructuring, merging and winding-up of defined benefit, defined contribution and hybrid schemes.

Jane advises pension schemes on all types of investment related legal agreements including fiduciary management, investment platforms, investment management and custody agreements as well as legal due diligence on investment funds of all kinds. Jane was heavily involved in addressing the implications of the 2022 UK bond crisis on pension scheme LDI mandates.

Jane has a focus on helping both trustee and sponsor clients deliver their journey plans to low dependency or buy-out. Gaining as much certainty as possible on the member legal entitlements to benefits pays dividends in monitoring funding, avoiding trapped surplus and delivering a smooth investment de-risking approach to avoid unexpected contribution demands. Solvent winding-up sometimes with a surplus is no longer a rare event and Jane has spent a number of years working on solutions to address post winding-up liability issues in such cases.

Professional Memberships

Association of Pension Lawyers: 1993 to present.

Career

Solicitor, Nicholson Graham & Jones, 1993 – 1996; Associate and then Partner, Sacker & Partners, 1996 – 2007; Legal Director and then Partner, Gowling WLG, 2007 – 2017; Partner, Arc Pensions Law, 2017 - Present