An Van Damme studied law at the Universities of Namur and Leuven (1987 – 1992) . Afterwards
she obtained a degree in International Politics & Economics at the John Hopkins University,
Bologna Center (in 1993).
An started her professional career as an employment lawyer at De Bandt, Van Hecke, Lagae
(now Linklaters) in 1993. In 2001 she was one of the founding partners of the law firm Claeys &
Engels. She became head of the pensions department in 2006 (together with Jan Van Gysegem)
and remained a pension partner at Claeys & Engels until the end of 2020.
In 2021, An took a career break of a few months, during which she followed a mediation course.
An is now a certified mediator in social affairs. In addition, she took up mandates as an
independent director in two pension funds. She continues to perform these mandates until today.
An joined Nexyan in September 2021 in order to give legal support to the team.
During her career, An specialized in occupational pensions and benefits, assisting clients in
drafting and modifying pension plans or collective bargaining agreements, helping clients with the
pension related aspects of mergers or acquisitions (including due diligence) or with the
harmonization of pension plans following a merger or acquisition; setting-up, merging or
dissolving pension funds; drafting governance documents for pension funds including crossborder pension funds; giving legal advice on discrimination issues or legal compliance issues. In
addition, An assisted clients with information/communication, negotiations, presentations
regarding occupational pensions. She has also been a compliance officer for various pension
funds. An is a frequent lecturer both at national and international seminars and conferences and
author of several legal publications.
An is an active member of IPEBLA (International Pension Benefits Lawyers Association) and a
co-founder of BEPLA (Belgian Pension Benefits Lawyers Association). Her mother tongue is
Dutch, but An is fluent in English and French. She has basic knowledge of German and Spanish.