Elizabeth Gane

Based in Gowling WLGs Birmingham office, Liz Gane has been advising clients based in the UK, Europe, USA and Asia on all aspects of UK pensions law for over 15 years.

Liz's clients value her clear analysis of the law, straight forward advice and approachable style. Liz understands that building long-term relationships with her clients and her clients' other advisers is key to providing effective, clear advice that reflects the wider commercial objectives of the trustees and the sponsoring employer.

Liz helps clients not only on the day-to-day running of their pension schemes but also on more strategic projects including:

• advising a German client on the impact of a European-wide strategic reorganisation on its UK-based pension arrangements
• advising trustees on proposals put forward by its Japanese parent to restructure its UK operations
• putting in place charges over properties and parent company guarantees as part of wider funding strategies for schemes
• re-writing a set of outdated scheme documents into plain English and incorporating seven new benefit structures into the Rules
• advising trustees on scheme change proposals, including the closure of schemes to future accrual
• advising corporate groups on winding-up or restructuring of very old, insured pension arrangements in order to facilitate the winding-up and striking off of old and dormant, non-trading companies.

Liz advises schemes ranging in size from a few million pounds to over a billion pounds and her client base includes defined benefit schemes, defined contribution schemes, hybrid schemes and CARE (Career Averaged Revalued Earnings) schemes.