Speakers
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Andy McKinnell Andy is an experienced pensions professional with strong investment and actuarial knowledge. Over a 30 year career he has advised on a wide range of asset and liability management issues, and he is well known and respected within the pensions industry, particularly in Scotland. He currently acts as the investment consultant to a number of pension funds ranging in size from around £50m to over £2.5bn.
Andy is also now taking on appointments in a personal capacity as an independent professional trustee. His skills and experience offer valuable insight to any board on which he serves, and he combines these with an ability to build strong relationships and work in partnership with other trustees and sponsors. He also retains a portfolio of investment advisory appointments with Aon Hewitt, working on a part-time basis.
Andy’s specific skills include expertise in Liability Driven Investment having developed Aon’s advisory capability in this area in 2006/07, and he has been at the forefront of the design of de-risking strategies for clients of the firm. More recently he has worked with clients on a range of alternative investment opportunities including infrastructure, other long-term inflation-linked opportunities, secured loans, and an innovative collateral switch transaction that enhanced index-linked gilt returns. Earlier in his career he advised on a variety of funding issues, including the impact of corporate restructures, liaison with the pensions regulator, benefit changes, as well as on scheme documentation and member communication.
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Sammy Cooper-Smith Head of Business Development
Sammy is head of the Rothesay Life business development team. Sammy started his career at Prudential before leaving to join the buy-out start up Paternoster which was acquired by Rothesay Life in 2011. At Rothesay Life’s Sammy has played a lead role in transactions with the pension funds of National Grid, telent, Asda and Allied Domecq amongst others as well as the reinsurance of the Prudential, Zurich Assurance and Aegon annuity portfolios.
