Louisa heads our Pensions team, and was also a member of our Board for many years. She advises trustees and companies on all kinds of pensions law issues from scheme inception to winding up.
Her varied experience includes risk reduction measures, dealing with surplus, scheme restructuring, buy-ins and buy-outs. Her particularly strong experience of advising on occupational schemes (both defined benefit and defined contribution) gives her in-depth knowledge of the issues facing these schemes, in many sectors.
Another key aspect of Louisa’s work is advising pension clients on ESG compliance and related issues. She co-chairs the firm’s ESG Advisory Group.
- Acting for the trustees of a multibillion-pound hybrid defined benefit / defined contribution scheme on a range of matters, including corporate activity and pension related measures.
- Acting for the trustee of a multibillion-pound pension scheme on all matters, including significant corporate activity, guarantee terms, and ongoing compliance including GMP equalisation.
- Acting for a sponsoring company on the merger of five UK-based defined benefit pension arrangements.
- Advising a corporate sponsor on the legal aspects of scheme valuation and approach for a defined benefit pension scheme, and on legal strategy for pension trustee negotiations.
- Advising on strategy to release statutory employers and replace them with new ones under regulatory-approved structures to avoid statutory debt triggers.
- Acting for a sponsoring employer in relation to a complex scheme rescue package; the solution involved an innovative structure.
- Acting for trustees throughout a restructuring and ring-fencing project for a major commercial bank.
- Advising sponsoring employers on the guarantee structures for multiple schemes within the group, and on related legal impact through funding and actuarial valuation processes.
- Acting for a client undertaking a court application process on complex escalation and equalisation requirements for a defined benefit scheme, including post-judgment implementation.
- Advising on legal and strategic aspects of covenant process for trustees of multiple schemes.
- Advising a UK technology business on the full range of issues relating to scheme buy-out and winding-up, including project management, contract reviews, negotiation with trustees, and advice on a range of regulatory and legislative issues.
- Advising the trustee of a multibillion-pound defined benefit scheme, including in connection with the sale of a significant proportion of its sponsoring employer including negotiation and drafting of a suite of documents to provide mitigation.
- Advising a large US-based corporate on multiple projects, such as the closure or merging of multiple defined benefit pension schemes, including project management and consideration of funding issues.
- Advising trustee and corporate clients across a range of pension schemes on complex funding or benefit restructuring projects, including closure to future accrual and complex funding arrangements.
Louisa is on the Scotland Group Committee of Pensions Scotland, and on the ICAS Pensions Committee. She is also a full member of the Association of Pension Lawyers, and a Non-Executive Board Director of Scottish Financial Enterprise, the industry body for financial and professional services in Scotland.
