I am a banking and finance specialist with over 20 years’ experience and am head of Sackers’ contingent asset and alternative funding solutions practice.

I advise pension trustees and employers on a wide spectrum of funding, covenant and security solutions for DB pension schemes.  These may arise in the context of scheme funding discussions, where a corporate event such as a takeover, sale or corporate restructuring is taking place which requires mitigation, or on risk transfer transactions, such as a buy-in or buy-out, in the context of avoiding trapped surplus or funding insurer premiums where there are illiquid assets in the pension scheme.

I have broad experience across all of these areas, which includes:

• asset-backed funding structures (ABF) / asset-backed contribution structures (ABC) with a range of underlying assets
• contribution arrangements – contingent funding agreements, dividend-linked additional contributions and upside sharing
• contingent assets – escrow / charged account arrangements using cash and securities, guarantees, legal mortgages over real estate, letters of credit, PPF levy certifications, reservoir trusts and surety bonds
• intercreditor and subordination arrangements
• loans from employers to trustees
• trapped surplus mitigation arrangements.

Recent experience

• acting for the trustee of a pension scheme on a multi-billion pound buy-in of scheme liabilities in relation to complex arrangements for the funding of insurer premiums and mitigation of trapped surplus
• acting for the trustee of a multi-billion pound pension scheme on complex covenant protections involving the provision of a cash and gilts escrow/charged account arrangement, letters of credit, surety bonds, negative pledges, a gearing restriction and an information sharing protocol in the context of mitigation for a corporate disposal
• acting for the trustee of a pension scheme in relation to the acquisition of the employer group by a private equity consortium which involved the introduction of debt into the group, including the negotiation of intercreditor and subordination arrangements between the trustee, lenders, vendor and intra-group creditors along with a detailed memorandum of understanding between the trustee, new private equity owners and the employer group
• acting for trustee and employer clients in relation to liquidity loans from the employer to the trustee.

Qualified: 2001, England and Wales

Joined Sackers: 2011

Became partner: 2013