Bio to follow…

Laura Curtis joined Vanguard in September 2018 and is the Head of Marketing for Vanguard’s European business, setting and executing the direct-to-consumer and business-to-business marketing strategy in the UK and Europe. Prior to joining Vanguard, Laura was the Global Head of Marketing at Jupiter Asset Management, based in London, with a team that covered the UK, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Before Jupiter, Laura was at AllianceBernstein for nearly 8 years, where she was most recently working in the London office, as managing director, SVP, COO and Head of Marketing for the EMEA Client Group, shaping and resourcing the regional distribution and marketing strategy. Working in their New York headquarters, she also held senior management roles in international marketing and alternatives product development. Laura started her career in asset management at FranklinTempleton Investments where she was marketing manager for the US Private Client Group working in their California headquarters. 

Laura received a Bachelor of Arts from University of California, San Diego, in Chinese Studies and International Relations, and holds an International MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. 

Mariam Akanbi is Senior Legal Counsel at ARCH Emerging Markets Partners Limited (ARCH).  ARCH is an owner-managed investment advisory firm founded in 2018 that specialises on private equity opportunities across EM jurisdictions.  At ARCH, Mariam is responsible for all aspects of the company’s legal functions, including fund formation and fundraising for the investment advisory themes; legal review of investment process and deal structuring; transaction management; and implementing group company reorganisations and operational changes.  Mariam has been actively involved in diversity and community outreach initiatives throughout her legal career. 

Mariam is the co-founder of Black Women in Asset Management (BWAM), a non-profit industry organisation that seeks to connect and empower Black women.  BWAM’s mission is to champion the positive impact of the talented Black women who work in asset management and to provide them with the tools to thrive in order to advance to senior leadership roles. 

Meike Bliebenicht joined AB in 2020 as Product Direct for our Multi-Asset capability. In her role, she is responsible for AB’s Luxembourg and US domiciled multi-asset products, including the firm’s multi-asset income and emerging market multi-asset strategies. She represents the market views and investment strategies of the firm’s Multi-Asset Solutions team. Prior to joining AB, she headed up the London based Multi-Asset Product Specialist team at HSBC Global Asset Management. Before that, she spent seven years at J.P. Morgan Asset Management in multi-asset product roles. Meike holds a Diplom-Bankbetriebswirt degree from Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Frankfurt. Location: London.

Rosalyn is a Corporate, Funds and Financial Services lawyer with over 25 years’ experience working in private practice, investment banking and at a multi-family office. Her core clients are family businesses, family offices, trustees, private capital investors, private wealth managers and entrepreneurs (particularly private equity, hedge fund principals, fintech businesses) and other city professionals. In addition to providing strategic advice Rosalyn establishes private funds, advises family offices and fund management businesses and acts on a range of private equity and joint venture deals. Rosalyn is recommended as a Top Five Corporate Lawyer in Spear’s 500 from inception in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Rosalyn is an associate fellow at Said Business School University of Oxford , non-executive director of Lanware, chairman of Milltrust International Advisory Council, member of the Black Women in Asset Management Advisory Council, member of the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment Integrity and Ethics committee and chair of the Wedlake Bell Ethnic Minorities Committee.

Sally is an actuary with pensions and investment experience as an adviser, trustee and non-executive director.  

Sally works with the UK’s largest pension schemes in organisational effectiveness and governance projects with Avida International.  She is Chair at Impax Asset Management plc, is a non-executive director at insurer Royal London and Local Pensions Partnership (LPP) Limited, where she chairs its FCA regulated investment company.   

Until recently Sally was a trustee at the Nuclear Liabilities Fund and at both NEST Corporation and the Lloyds Bank pension schemes.  She was Chief Executive Officer of the BP Pension Scheme in the interesting years of 2007-14 after twenty years with Aon Hewitt working both as a pensions and investment consultant and in research and innovation.     

Sally is an Honorary Group Captain in 601 Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. 

Bio to follow…

Aisling is a Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager with Mercer Global Investments, and is responsible for the of management Mercer’s fixed income solutions globally. Previously Aisling held the position of Strategic Projects and Partnerships Leader for Mercer’s OCIO business in Canada.

Prior to her role at Mercer, Aisling was a Senior Investment Consultant with Aon where she advised corporate and public pension plans and was the Canadian representative of Aon’s Global Asset Allocation Team, providing capital market insights and medium term views on global investment conditions to Aon’s consultants and clients.

Earlier in her career, Aisling was the Investment Proposition Manager for Standard Life in Ireland from 2009 – 2014. Here she was responsible for setting the strategic direction and development of Standard Life Ireland’s investment platform. Aisling also held the position of Sectary of the Standard Life International Investment Forum for UK Offshore and Asia distributed investment products.

Aisling is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries UK (FIA), and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland (FSAI). Aisling is a previous Steering Committee member of the Toronto Responsible Investment Committee, encouraging sustainable investment practices among Canadian investors. Aisling holds a BSc in Financial and Actuarial Mathematics and a Post Graduate Qualification in Actuarial Applications, from Dublin City University, Ireland.

Marie Fromaget joined AXA IM in May 2018 as an ESG analyst focusing on human capital and diversity. She is in charge of doing research and engagement on these specific thematic and has launched the 30% Club France Investor Group in November 2020, which she is co-chairing until end of 2021. Prior to this, she spent over 2 years working as an ESG research analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, assessing social impacts along the value chain and providing investors with forward-looking research on ESG integration.   

She also has previous experiences in the Sustainable Capital Markets service at BNP Paribas and in the Green Certificates and Carbon Credit sales business.  

Marie holds a Master in Energy, Finance, Carbon from the University Paris Dauphine as well as a Magistère in International Economics and Finance. 

Tatjana is Co-Head Public Markets and manages the Muzinich Enhancedyield Short-Term strategy and the Muzinich Sustainable Credit strategy.  She is a founding member of the European Leveraged Finance Association, a member of the ECB’s Bond Market Contact Group and a frequent speaker at investment conferences.

In 2019, Tatjana was appointed as an advisor to the Dalai Lama Centre for Compassion. Tatjana is a leading advocate for incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices into credit portfolios and her strategies have won numerous industry awards including ESG-specific awards.  She is also a member of the Consultative Group for the Taskforce of Scaling Voluntary Carbon Trading. In 2018, Tatjana won Fund Manager of the Year (small to medium firms) at Investment Week’s Women in Investment Awards and in 2019, as well as 2020, she was one of the best 30 female fund managers globally as ranked by Citywire.

Tatjana joined Muzinich in 2007 from Metlife Investments, where she served as an Associate Director of the Higher Return Unit. Prior to that she worked as a Senior Portfolio Manager in European High Yield for Fortis Investments and as a portfolio manager and credit analyst at Legal & General Investment Management. She has a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics, a Masters from the Kiel Institute of World Economics in Germany, and an M.Sc/B.S. in Economics from the University of Vienna. 

Darren Johnson is the Chief Operating Officer for Listed Equities and a member of the Executive Committee. Darren is responsible for global operations, including portfolio services, technology, project management and client onboarding. Since joining Impax in 2007, he has driven operational transformation, built teams and pioneered the company’s transition into cloud services to support rapid growth. Darren also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Impax Asset Management’s Irish subsidiary. 

Darren is a prominent advocate of Diversity and BAME issues across financial markets, acting as an ambassador for Investment 20/20. 

Prior to Impax, Darren was Head of Operations at Talisman Global Asset Management, a family office investing in Fund of Hedge Funds and Private Equity. Darren was responsible for designing and implementing accounting, operational, and performance procedures, including systems within the firm. He has also worked for RAB Capital, AXA IM, Mercers, and Legal & General in various senior investment, operational, and accounting positions. 

Kalina is a Director within BMO Global Asset Management’s Responsible Investment team which she joined in 2014 (while still F&C Investments). She has over 15 years’ experience in corporate governance and responsible investment having previously worked at Governance for Owners/GES and Fidelity International. Kalina leads on the Responsible Investment team’s work on corporate governance and oversees stewardship activities, including corporate governance engagement and proxy voting, as well as supporting the integration of ESG factors into BMO’s investment process for different strategies. Kalina has an MSc in Regulation from the London School of Economics, and a postgraduate certificate in Finance from Birkbeck. She is bilingual in English and Bulgarian. 

Zeynep is the Global Head of Middle Office at Dalton Strategic Partnership LLP which she joined in 2017. At Dalton, Zeynep, focuses on day to day management of the Operations function with oversight of both Back and Middle Office and is also a member of the Firm’s ESG Committee. Zeynep was previously at State Street Global Advisors managing a team of Portfolio Analysts providing support to the equity portfolios primarily within EMEA. Prior to that, she was Head of Operations at Frere Hall Capital Management LLP where she joined prior to launch. Prior to this, she worked within the operation teams at Red Kite Capital Management LLP and Blue Gold Capital Management LLP. 

Zeynep holds a BSci (Hons) in Mathematics and Management from University of Liverpool and is a Part-Qualified Accountant. 

Kathryn McDonald is the co-founder of Radiant ESG, a consulting firm that advises on approaches to ESG investing and programs that promote diversity and inclusion with an emphasis on culture. Prior to this she was Head of Sustainable Investing at Rosenberg Equities, overseeing the integration of ESG information in Rosenberg’s investment process and leading the firm’s ESG and impact research effort.  Kathryn holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Willamette University, and a Master of International Management from The American Graduate School of International Management. She is the founder of Aquanos Collective, a company dedicated to the exploration of innovation in water infrastructure and technology, and a member of the Board for the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA).

Heidi is the co-founder of Radiant ESG, a consulting firm that advises on approaches to ESG investing and programs that promote diversity and inclusion with an emphasis on culture. Most recently, she was the CEO of Rosenberg Equities.  Under her leadership, Rosenberg became the first fully ESG integrated quantitative manager. 

She is a diversity advocate, forwarding the dialogue through speaking engagements worldwide. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, a CFA charterholder, and a member of the Advisory Council for the Center for Equity Gender and Leadership at the HAAS School of Business.

Nina is a Director in BMO Global Asset Management’s Responsible Investment team. She joined the firm in 2019. Nina focuses on ESG analysis and engagement for financials and oversees social engagement efforts. Before joining BMO GAM Nina worked at Germany’s development agency (GIZ), engaging emerging markets financial institutions and their regulators on sustainable finance. Nina also worked for UBS’s environmental and social risk team in Hong Kong, Zurich, and New York, as well as for Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, where she established the bank’s ESR framework. In 2014, Nina founded the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s financial institutions task force. Nina holds a Master’s degree in political science.

Bev is the founder and Chief Executive of City Hive.  Frustrated by the lack of diversity within financial services, Shah founded the industry body, City Hive in 2016 to challenge the investment and asset management industry and be a force of positive change. A trailblazer, Shah is passionate about engaging with, educating, challenging and holding the sector accountable to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive.  Prior to founding City Hive, Bev founded the Multi Manager team at Aviva Investors. She has spent her investment career analysing fund managers in the asset management industry across all asset classes, conducting due diligence on 1000s of funds. This has given her a unique insight into the broader corporate culture of the investment management industry and catalysed her passion for holding firms to account for their ESG responsibilities.  

A champion for greater diversity and inclusion, Shah collaborates regularly with the Diversity Project and has been appointed to the Court of the Guild of Investment Managers, Last year she was awarded Freedom to the City of London and recognised for her contribution to the Industry at the Women in Investment Awards. 

Oli Shakir-Khalil is an Investment Director at Fidelity International covering Emerging Market Debt and Money Market strategies. Prior to joining Fidelity, Oli spent three years at Goldman Sachs Asset Management working as a Fixed Income Product Manager supporting the Emerging Market Debt business. Oli graduated from Trinity College, University of Cambridge with an MA (Hons.) degree in Classics and is a CFA charterholder. 

Oli is passionate about Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace, specialising particularly in Mental Health issues and LGBT+ inclusion. He is a trained Mental Health First Aider and instructor, responsible for providing support on wellbeing topics and training others around the organisation in Mental Health First Aid. He also founded Fidelity’s LGBT+ network and is now responsible for Fidelity’s Global LGBT+ Ally programme. 

Paul Sinthunont is a senior analyst at Aite Group, specializing in buy-side research. He covers buy-side trends in technology, operations, and regulation. His core focus is on portfolio management systems, risk management, performance attribution and measurement, Environmental Social and Governance (ESG), investment accounting, and client reporting. 

Before joining Aite Group, Mr. Sinthunont was a research consultant at CoreData Research, where he led the research efforts covering trends in both intermediary and institutional investor channels. This included producing market insight studies, white papers, and thought leadership for both asset managers and asset servicers such as State Street, Invesco, Natixis Investment Management, Janus Henderson, and Vanguard. Topics covered included portfolio strategy, client engagement, manager selection, ESG integration, alternative investing, and factor investing. 

Mr. Sinthunont holds a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Manchester, an M.Sc in Economics from the University of Warwick, and an M.Sc in Public Policy from University College London. He has completed Level III of the Chartered Financial Analyst program. He is fluent in both English and Thai. 

Liz Skinner is Special Projects Editor for InvestmentNews and Editor of ESG Clarity US. She has been a financial reporter and editor at InvestmentNews for 10 years. Liz joined InvestmentNews after five years as a reporter for Bloomberg News, where she covered the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other business news out of the nation’s capital. Off the clock, she’s raising two fearless girls and enjoys running, ice-skating and traveling to as many cities and beaches as possible. She has an MA in Environmental Resource Policy from George Washington University and you can connect with her on Twitter @SkinnerLiz.

Ines joined 7IM in 2019 from HSBC Global Asset Management where she was a Senior Investment Specialist looking after high net worth discretionary clients. 
 
Ines holds the Private Client Investment Advice and Management qualification, Investment Management Certificate and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment. Ines also volunteers with charities supporting education and female entrepreneurship in developing countries. 

Cara Williams, Senior Partner, is Global Leader for Financial Intermediaries and Family Offices. Located in London, Cara develops and drives the strategy for Mercer’s work with financial intermediaries, wealth management firms and family offices globally.

She ensures clients’ needs are appropriately met with a wide array of solutions from market insights, manager research, asset allocation to deal sourcing and establishment of investment platforms and solutions. Cara presents regularly on global investment trends in wealth management as well as on Mercer’s When Women Thrive platform for Financial Services. With over 24 years of experience in the pensions and investment industry, Cara began at Mercer’s investment consulting business as Global COO in April 2005.

Before joining Mercer in the UK, Cara held roles in New York with Merrill Lynch Investment Management, and also for the French bank, CDC, where she oversaw European sales for their Investment Management group. Cara began her career in finance as a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch in New York. Prior to working in the investment industry, she was responsible for budgets and logistics for US Army and NATO MWR deployments. Cara is also an active mentor for external programs supporting and promoting women in their careers. Cara graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a BA, and from The University of Hartford with an MBA in Finance.