Partner
Rachel Burdett
T:
+61 3 8320 5600
M:
Melbourne
With over 30 years of advisory, restructuring and insolvency experience, Rachel guides stakeholders to overcome challenges with empathy and skill. As an insolvency and restructuring specialist, Rachel gives businesses and companies a unique advisory perspective on building effective practices in challenging environments and setting or refocusing corporate strategies.
With a career of over three decades, Rachel has worked across various restructuring and risk management roles within chartered accounting firms and the banking industry. Rachel specialises in distressed debt advisory, stabilisation to turnaround, restructuring and formal insolvency. Helping clients through guidance, tailored solutions and resolving strategic, operational and financial problems.
While working in the banking industry, Rachel primarily focused on managing distressed and non-performing loans across various industries throughout Australia and leading portfolio teams across finance, risk management, restructuring and insolvency.
She is the National President of ARITA (the peak national association for restructuring, turnaround, and insolvency), a Fellow, Executive Board member and member of the Balanced Taskforce for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Rachel is also the chair of the ASIC, AFSA & ARITA liaison committee and a member of the VicTas committee for ARITA. Rachel is a founding Vice President of the Regional Restructuring and Insolvency Forum (RRIO), appointed in 2024.
Rachel has acted as Administrator, Deed Administrator and Liquidator and as an advisor to companies and directors needing stabilisation, solvency, restructuring advice and ‘next practice’ strategic guidance. In addition to advisory, Rachel has conducted workshop sessions with the board and management and conducted financial, credit risk and working capital training for banking and credit teams.
Rachel is the founding partner of the Cor Cordis Women’s Forum and was awarded Outstanding Female of the Year at the 2024 Women in Insolvency and Restructuring (WIRV) Awards 2024.
• Financial services
• Health (aged care & retirement)
• Health (including pharmaceutical)
• Real estate & construction
• Tourism & Leisure
• Agribusiness
• MIS
• Retail
The group operated as an over-the-counter derivatives dealer (foreign currency) and held AFSL.
The initial appointment, made on application by ASIC, eventuated from concerns surrounding the companies’ financial positions and handling of investors’ monies.
Companies were subsequently wound the Liquidators to conduct public examinations and extensive investigations based on Receivers' and Managers’ findings of insolvency, enabling public examinations and extensive investigations to be conducted by the Liquidators.
As a result, the directors have been charged with dishonesty offences, including misuse of over $1m and provision of false or misleading information, and the liquidators have been able to pursue a claim against parties that received the benefit of company funds of c.$1.4m.
Advisor to a long-standing retail clothing group. Over 18 months, managed stabilisation of cash flow and balance sheet issues, subsequently integrating this with a restructure of the board, management, and operations.
Completed an independent financial and operational review of a meat/hospitality company, which included hospitality, meat processing, trade and export (secured debt of circa $80 million). Recommendations included improvement of cash and debt management, and internal controls. The business was stabilised through the structured exit of underperforming assets.
Numerous advisory engagements, independent business reviews and solvency assessments of pharmaceutical & health (private hospital) operations across Australia.
Appointment over financial planning dealer group, providing licencing and dealer group services to over 120 advisers.
Complex legal issues regarding competing rights over funds in a ‘brokerage’ account (resolution via court determination)
Payment of c$0.80/$1 dividend for employee entitlement owed of c$944k and repayment of principal debt (debt owed at appointment) to a major lender.
Holding c$1b in Funds Under Management (FUM) at the appointment and monthly income of c$350k.
Preservation of asset/income stream via DOCA, including negotiation and settlement with fund issue regarding continuation of payments
Complex share/adviser structure leading to dispute over rights to income – resolution through DOCA and negotiation with key stakeholders.
Consideration of tax issues arising from income and adviser agreements - income tax ruling
Resulting outcome of returns of $5M gross collections to adviser/shareholders and repayment of principal debt (debt owed at appointment) to a major lender.
