The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has cut its legal panel down from 23 firms to six, following its latest overhaul.

The organisation, which provides compensation to members of defined benefit pension schemes in the event of insolvency, has named Gowling WLG, DWF, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), Hogan Lovells, Mayer Brown and Osborne Clarke to its streamlined roster.

The appointments, which come into effect next month, follow a six-month procurement process and will see the firms providing advice across multiple disciplines.

Gowling WLG, DWF and Osborne Clarke have also been selected to provide specialist advice to the PPF assessment schemes.

PPF director of legal, compliance and ethics, Dana Grey, said: "This appointment is the result of a robust procurement exercise and we are confident that this panel will provide the specialist services needed to drive our legal offering at the PPF.

"Our new streamlined legal panel will allow us to develop better working relationships with each of the successful firms to not only improve the quality of the service we receive, but also to ensure we get the best value for our spend on legal services. It will also enable us to work with a core group of specialists who really understand the PPF."

The PPF's previous 23-strong roster was split into two separate panels. The insolvency and corporate panel comprised: Addleshaw Goddard, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Bond Dickinson, Mayer Brown, Moon Beever, Nabarro, Osborne Clarke, Pitmans, Squire Patton Boggs and Stephenson Harwood, as well as three core panel firms – Clyde & Co, Dentons and legacy Wragges.

The specialist and reserve panel comprised: Addleshaws, Ashurst, BLP, Bevan Brittan, Bond Dickinson, Burness Paull, legacy Dundas & Wilson, Fieldfisher, HSF, Hogan Lovells, Jones Day, Kingsley Napley, Mayer Brown, Nabarro, Osborne Clarke, Sacker & Partners, Squire Patton Boggs and Stephenson Harwood.