Trustee priorities and Transactions

AMNT Autumn Conference – 13th September 5

The webinar hosted by The AMNT and Willis Towers Watson will take place on Tuesday 23rd February 2021 from 10.00am until 10.45am. The webinar will be hosted by two speakers from Willis Towers Watson, Adam Boyes (Head of Trustee Consulting) and Louise Nash (Director, Transactions team), with Sanjay Gupta chairing the session. The webinar will cover trustee priorities and a look at the de-risking transactions market, including:

  • Trustee priorities in the short-to-medium term
  • Challenges trustees have recently been facing
  • Looking back at the UK de-risking market in 2020
  • Predictions for the UK de-risking market in 2021

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Tuesday 23rd February 10:00 to 10:45

Agenda

10:00am - Introduction: Sanjay Gupta, Willis Towers Watson & David Weeks, AMNT

10:05am -  Trustee priorities in 2021

10:20am -  Transactions

10:40am - Q&A

10:45 am - Close: Sanjay Gupta, Willis Towers Watson & David Weeks, AMNT

Speakers

Adam Boyes

Head of Trustee Consulting

I am the Head of Trustee Consulting for Willis Towers Watson and the Scheme Actuary to defined benefit pension schemes ranging from £200m to several billion pounds.

In my scheme actuary role, I provide strategic advice on funding and risk management, helping trustees to negotiate good valuation outcomes and to develop longer term funding strategies.

Recent projects have included early mover GMP equalisation exercises, designing contingent funding mechanisms that support integrated risk management; providing support to trustees with sponsor-led scheme closures, liability management exercises and bulk transfers; and advising on de-risking transactions and other high-profile issues.

I am closely involved with the firm’s interactions with the Pensions Regulator and Government on funding and related issues.  My leadership role, as Head of Trustee Consulting, involves helping to direct our specialist groups to ensure that Willis Towers Watson is innovating and advising our trustee clients in the right areas at the right time.

Louise Nash

Director, Transactions team

I am a Director in Willis Towers Watson’s Pensions Transactions Team, specialising in buy-ins, buyouts and longevity swaps.  I have been working in pensions for over 11 years and specialised in pension risk transfer for over 7 years.

I have significant experience of working on large pension schemes transactions, including the £16bn longevity swap for the BT Pension Scheme, the £10 billion longevity swap for the Lloyds Banking Group pension schemes in January 2020, a £300 million buy-in for the American Express Pension Plan and a £400 million buy-in for Janus Henderson Investors.  I have worked with many Schemes all the way through to their journey to buyout, from the very large right down to the very small (less than £1m in size), and helped trustees and companies through a huge range of issues, from sponsor covenant events to schemes with a surplus to distribute to members.

Sanjay Gupta

Sanjay Gupta

Senior Director, Willis Towers Watson

I am Scheme Actuary to five schemes ranging from £150 million to over £1 billion, and also advise a small number of scheme sponsors. I particularly enjoy establishing strong relationships with my clients.

I have been working closely with my clients to help them through these challenging financial conditions.  Understanding the impact on the scheme sponsor is a key part of this and I have been working closely with trustees to understand the relationship between funding and the strength of employer covenant, particularly where there is an overseas parent.

Recent projects have also included understanding the implications of closure to future accrual, robust funding discussions with employers through to designing “journey plans” to improve the longer term security of members’ benefits (including considering de-risking and liability management solutions).

I hold various leadership roles with Willis Towers Watson including leading our Trustee Consulting issues team, and am therefore well linked-in with WTW experts on all matters affecting trustee clients.  I also represent WTW on Council for The Society of Pensions Professionals (SPP), a broad based industry group.

AMNT Autumn Conference – 13th September hosted by Columbia Threadneedle Investments 14

David Weeks

Co-Chair AMNT

David Weeks was elected as Co-Chair of the Association of Member Nominated Trustees (AMNT) in 2016.  He is a director of the defined benefit pension scheme for a leading PLC in infrastructure services. The Pensions Management Institute presented him with their 2019 award for “Outstanding contribution to the pensions industry”. “Engaged Investor” included him in their “Top 50 people in pensions 2017”.

David Weeks is active in the affairs of the World Pensions Council, for whom he has acted as moderator, presenter and rapporteur at international conferences. Journals that have published contributions from him recently include “Financial Times”, “Revue Analyse Financiere”, “Portfolio Institutional”, “Professional Pensions” and “Pensions Expert”. He has been a judge for major UK pension awards.

In his previous career, David Weeks has experience of both public and private sectors. Most recently he served as a consultant or executive in UK Government Departments, including Home Office, Health, Trade and Industry, and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Earlier, he worked in private sector business development and marketing, and in international advertising agencies. He is a graduate in history of the University of Bristol.

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