Hetal Kotecha

Trustee Director

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Hetal acts as trustee in various capacities as Chair and co-trustee, and also leads appointments where IGG is the Sole Trustee.

Hetal works across a range of clients, including Affinity Water, Thorntons, and Unisys, both on-going and special situation cases.

His natural style is to establish strategic objectives with key stakeholders and to oversee and manage the delivery in a way that is ‘hands on’. He works closely with the sponsoring employers to understand their sector, finances, and organisational culture as context for developing strategies for their pension schemes. He has a strong focus on detail across all aspects of scheme operations and governance which extends to the close management and effective use of advisers.

  • Difficult Valuation Exercises
  • Fund raising/Re-financing
  • Insolvency
  • Interim appointments
  • Mentoring lay trustees
  • New scheme establishment
  • Ongoing support to DB/Hybrid schemes – either in context of Chair or Board member
  • Ongoing support to large and/or complex schemes – in area of common trustee boards/rationalising advisers
  • Restructuring
  • Risk transfer (buy in/buy out)
  • Scheme Mergers and demerger
  • Scheme Wind up DB and/or DC/ or in surplus
  • Schemes in PPF assessment
  • Sole Trusteeship
  • Working to agree long term objectives

As lead on a sole trustee appointment, executing a full buy-out of benefits, choreographing advisers and leading decision-making on buy-out negotiations.

Leading a strategy change on a complex group of schemes involving the selection and onboarding of a Fiduciary Manager (FM) necessitating both the establishment of guiding principles and tailoring to the specific needs of each scheme. One of these schemes is mature and underfunded and required the Trustee and Company to strike a balance between investment in growth assets to close the deficit and low risk contractual assets to match the characteristics of the liabilities.

Chairing and / or membership of investment and funding subcommittees, implementing changes in investment strategy including LDI strategies, alternative investments and de-risking plans.

Experience of working through complex negotiations with a sponsoring employer and with TPR under their Proactive Engagement regime. This led to a holistic funding solution for both trustees and employer reflecting the specific commercial constraints and time horizons of the employer.

Worked with schemes at all stages of the pension lifecycle, from new scheme establishment to closing DB sections; leading the development and execution of long term journey plan to self-sufficiency or eventual buy-in / buy-out.

In his role as Chair, worked with co-trustees, employer and restructuring advisers to deliver the optimum outcome where the employer covenant is stressed or distressed. Including a variety of approaches to incorporate non-cash forms of covenant support including parent company guarantees, contingent assets, escrow accounts and contingent funding agreements.

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