I have worked in pensions for over 25 years, providing legal advice to trustees, IGCs, employers and providers. My aim is always to provide practical and commercial advice, particularly in relation to complex and technical legal areas. I particularly enjoy working in a team alongside other advisers to get the best results for clients, especially in times where the law and commercial context is continually evolving and changing.

I have a special interest in pensions policy changes, new legislation and regulatory guidance which impact our clients and how they can achieve their objectives. The pensions industry needs to work closely together especially during times of significant change. I am keen to volunteer to help wherever I can and have a history of involvement with various initiatives that impact on new legislation and regulation. I am currently Chair of PASA’s working group that is focused on CDC issues and also a member of the PASA DC working group. I regularly speak at conferences and write articles and blogs for pensions publications.

My role as the Managing Partner of Sackers also gives me insight into some of the challenges and decisions involved in running a business – in this case, my experience comes from running a law firm based in London, but some of the principles will be common to many other walks of life. I find this really helpful to bear in mind when advising clients as it means I can consider their position from a business perspective and not just as a lawyer.

Recent experience

• leading the Sackers team acting on a substantial and complex buy-in/buy-out project for £1bn+ scheme
• providing novel advice on a major project to transfer DC section and AVC members with a protected pension age into a master trust, enabling them to keep that protection at retirement
• leading many projects for employers and trustees on bulk transfers into master trusts from both stand alone DC and also hybrid DB/DC pension schemes, and related scheme wind-ups
• advising on changes to retirement options, including flexible retirement and partial transfer policy
• adding retirement “bolt on” strategies for trustees who wish to signpost members to particular provider offerings to offer greater choice and flexibility to members
• advising on the use of reserve account/surplus assets by employers and trustees
• helping to set the agenda for trustee strategy “away days”
• supporting new trustees and new trustee chairs with their specific training needs
• providing training to IGC members on their legal duties
• advising employers on contribution/payroll issues and complex auto enrolment problems
• supporting trustees on issues relating to unauthorised payments and subsequent tax settlements with HMRC
• advising trustees on DC investment platform changes, DC fund reviews and the introduction of new investment options
• advising on the transfer and wind-up of one master trust into another under “continuity option one” of the master trust authorisation regime
• leading the Sackers team acting on a complex project to merge two large DC pension schemes while also changing the receiving scheme’s administrator to an in-house admin team, introducing a new investment platform provider, and transfering out all deferred members from both schemes into a master trust operating a “shared governance” investment strategy (ie multiple projects within an overall umbrella project)
• advising trustees on DC governance requirements such as pensions dashboards, chair’s statements, SIPs and implementation statements, and also triggering events and significant event reporting.

Qualified: 1998, England and Wales

Joined Sackers: 2000

Became partner: 2006

Testimonials

“She is an outstanding advisor who is very knowledgeable and pragmatic with her advice” Chambers UK