Jane Kola

A pensions director who advises trustee boards and major corporates on both defined benefit and defined contribution style pension schemes, including day-to-day scheme advice, scheme documentation, scheme mergers, benefit changes, scheme closures and scheme wind-ups.

Tel: +44 (0)207 664 0396

Email: jane_kola@wragge.com

Best brains in ...

Advising trustees on their legal duties, sticky situations, drafting complex pension scheme documentation in a user-friendly way and considering the legal issues relating to pension scheme investments.

Highlight of your career so far?

Working with a FTSE 100 company on the potential implications of failing to equalise pension scheme benefits correctly between men and women in the 1990s. The potential liabilities were eye-watering. After reviewing piles of dusty files and papers, the risks were properly understood and the potential liability was cut down to size. A pragmatic way forward was found to deal with the issue going forward.

Most challenging job you've ever done?

Acting for the trustees of the pension scheme for a major food manufacturer in the preparation of complex pension scheme documentation for a career average revalued earnings pension scheme contracted-out on a protected rights basis. CARE schemes were unusual at the time and the complexities of documenting correctly precisely how the benefits were to be calculated was something of a challenge. Weaving in the protected rights element with the numerous fiddly technical details required by law in the rules made it the toughest task I have faced yet.

What about outside the UK?

Working with a global pharmaceutical company to establish an international pension scheme for its overseas employees. This involved establishing a new cross-border pension scheme based in the UK and then transferring all international employees in other pension schemes into it. For financial reasons the project was time sensitive. It also involved understanding the local social and labour laws in other countries to be able to work out how best to organise the transfer of employees from one scheme to another.

An example of your great client service?

Make the effort to get to know your clients and the intricacies of their businesses very well. Then you are ready to deal with whatever they throw at you in whatever timescale. You can always deliver a pragmatic and commercial solution which makes you an integral part of their team.

When have you ever given a client a real competitive edge?

A food manufacturer was struggling to cope with the disciplines needed to correctly run its defined contribution trust-based pension scheme. Several consultants had advised changes to the existing scheme - the client was not convinced. After detailed discussions it became clear that cost was not the issue - trust law and pensions legislation was. With big changes to the pension scheme tax regime on the horizon, I suggested that the client convert its trust-based pension scheme into a contract-based one. Members got the same level of benefits, a pensions committee to add governance to the arrangements and a contractual right to independent financial advice. The employer got rid of a pensions headache it was ill-equipped to deal with so it could focus on the commercial imperatives of its business.