Insights – Key takeaways on “Building your own Restructuring and Insolvency practice” from the INSOL Future Leaders Program

We provide our key takeaways from the INSOL Future Leaders Program session held in Singapore on 21 November 2023.

The panel discussion was chaired by Mitchell Yeo (Director, Drew & Napier) and included panel members, Julian Kwek (Director, Drew & Napier), Toh Ai Ling (Partner, KPMG) and David Chew (Partner, DHC Capital).

Topic 1: How do you see the R&I ecosystem developing in the near future, and what do you see is its impact on younger practitioners’ building of their practices?

  • Shift away from creditor driven insolvency towards debtor led restructuring and rescue. The ability to bring in new capital (i.e. source, structure, arrange) and work with new capital providers to craft a solution and get creditor buy in will be a key required skill set

  • Changing buyer of services. With ever more complex capital structures, shift away from banks to private equity sponsors, private credit lenders and corporates

  • Specialisation of services will be key differentiator for practitioners

Topic 2: What skillsets should young R&I practitioners seek to develop when building their R&I practices?

  • Younger practitioners should focus on getting experience and exposure to different types of work. Find what you like and don’t like and then identify your niche and spend time to be good / great

  • Skill set is different for restructuring versus insolvency work

  • Restructuring requires working knowledge in M&A, capital raising, valuations, financial modelling, debt restructuring, turnaround, governance, SGX listing rules and insolvency to identify problems and develop a solution. The skills are typically learnt on the job as each case is not a one size fits all situation

Topic 3: What suggestions do you have for young R&I practitioners trying to market themselves or building their personal brand? Any thoughts on overcoming challenges of perceived age gaps?

  • Personal brand is about you. You need to understand:

    • What makes you different

    • What is unique or distinctive

    • What is the evidence to prove

  • Demonstrate competence

    • Knowledge

    • Expertise

    • Articulate a point of view

  • Presence

    • Appearance

    • Posture

    • Eye contact

  • Speech

    • Voice / speaking – no fillers, correct words and grammar

    • Tone, energy

  • Age is just a number

    • Demonstrate knowledge

    • Finding a solution to a client’s problem is more important

    • Overtime, clients believe in you, see that you are reliable and will give you an opportunity

Topic 4: Other points

  • Networking: First impressions matter. Make it count

  • Work: Work hard, keep your standards high. Attention to details is important. Continuously learn

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