Climate & Energy Global Practice Leader, WWF

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal is Climate & Energy Global Practice Leader at World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF International.

He has 35 years of experience in environmental law and policy.  He served as Minister of the Environment of Peru (2011 to 2016) and President of the Twentieth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – COP20 in 2014. He was the Executive Director of the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law, an influential institution in Latin America.  He has a law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, where he is a professor, and has completed studies for a master’s degree in Business Law at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas.

He is a Board member of Forest Trends, Amazon Conservation Association and Peruvian Society of Environmental Law and a member of the Assembly of the World Wide Fund for Nature – Colombia.  He has recently been added to the Aspen Institute Management and Leadership Advisory Group.  He is the chairman of the evaluation council of the French sovereign Green Bonds. He is an active member of different groups aimed to get strong outcomes as a part of the formal climate talks and the non-party stakeholders’ agenda. He has been recognized by the governments of France, Germany and Spain and by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society for his contribution to the Paris Agreement.

CEO, Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)

Fiona Reynolds

Fiona Reynolds is the CEO of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The PRI is a U.N. supported organisation which aims to create a sustainable global financial system and has more than 2,800 signatories who collectively represent over US $90 trillion in assets under management.

Appointed in 2013, Fiona has 25 years’ experience in the financial services and pension sector. Fiona joined the PRI from Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST), where she spent 7 years as the CEO. Fiona also serves on the Board of the UN Global Compact, is a member of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), the Global Advisory Council on Stranded Assets at Oxford University, the UN Business for Peace Steering Committee, the Global Steering Committee for the investor agenda on climate action and the Steering Committee for Climate Action 100+. Fiona has been a member of the UK Government Green Finance Taskforce and is currently on the Advisory Board for the UK Green Finance Centre. In 2018 Fiona was named by Barron’s magazine as one of the 20 most influential people in sustainability globally.

Chair, Aberdeen Standard Investments Research Institute

Keith Skeoch

Keith Skeoch was Chief Executive of Standard Life Aberdeen plc, which oversees £544.6bn* of assets for clients, and has recently transitioned into a role as Chair of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Research Institute.

Keith started his career in 1979 at the Government Economic Service. He moved into financial services in 1980 and became chief economist with James Capel (HSBC Securities from 1996), where he was latterly managing director of international equities.

He joined Standard Life Investments in 1999 as Chief Investment Officer, before becoming Chief Executive of that division in 2004. In 2015 he was appointed Chief Executive of Standard Life plc, having been a board member since 2006, and led the merger with Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017. He was named as sole CEO of Standard Life Aberdeen in 2019.

Keith has held a number of key industry appointments. He is currently Chair of the Investment Association, a board member of the Financial Reporting Council and a member of the Takeover Panel.

Keith holds a BA from the University of Sussex and an MA from the University of Warwick. In recognition of his wider contribution to the financial services industry – particularly his work in response to the global financial crisis – he has been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Sussex and Teesside University. For his services to the economics profession, he has been named a Fellow of the Society of Business Economists.
Keith is also a Trustee of the Edinburgh International Festival.

Chief Executive, NatWest Group

Alison Rose

Alison is Chief Executive of The NatWest Group having worked at NatWest for more than 27 years.  She joined as a graduate, and was most recently Deputy CEO of NatWest Holdings and CEO of RBS’ Commercial & Private Banking business.  Alison is also a Non-Executive Director of Great Portland Estates plc, Trustee of BITC and Chair of the Scottish BITC Advisory Board and sits on the board of the Coutts Charitable Foundation.

Chair, Financial Services Culture Board and GEFI Global Steering Group

Dame Susan Rice

Dame Susan Rice, a Chartered Banker, chairs the Financial Services Culture Board and was founding chair of the Chartered Banker: Professional Standards Board. She also chairs Scottish Water, Business Stream and the Scottish Fiscal Commission, Scotland’s independent economic and fiscal forecaster.  In addition, she is Senior Independent Director of J Sainsbury, and of the North American Income Trust. The first woman to head a UK clearing bank, she was Chief Executive and Chairman of Lloyds TSB Scotland plc, then Managing Director of Lloyds Banking Group.

She was previously a Non-Executive Director of the Bank of England and energy company SSE. She has helped develop approaches to social finance in the US and UK, led work on cultural and ethical standards for bankers, chaired Scotland’s 2020 Climate Group and now works with P-CAN. Previously, she was Senior Vice President at NatWest Bancorp in New York and, earlier in her career, a Dean at Yale and Colgate Universities in America and a published medical researcher.

At GEFI, Susan oversees the activities as Chair of the Global Steering Group.

Head, UNEP FI

Eric Usher

Eric Usher Heads the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, UNEP FI, a global partnership bringing together the UN with a global groups of banks, insurers and asset managers working to develop the sustainable finance and responsible investment agendas. Eric oversees governance, strategy and day-to-day management of UNEP FI’s work programme and global network development. Over the years UNEP FI has established some of the most important sustainability oriented frameworks within the finance industry, including the Principles for Responsible Investment (2006), the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (2012) and the Principles for Responsible Banking (2019). Since joining in 2015, Mr. Usher has focused on accelerating the deep integration of sustainability risks into financial practice, including addressing climate change, natural capital loss and human rights abuses, as well as building out the frameworks for positive impact finance needed to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Eric sits on several industry bodies including as UN representative on the Board of the Principles for Responsible Investment, and as a member of the governing boards of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, the Investor Agenda and the impact fund REPP Africa.

Prior to leading UNEP FI, Mr. Usher has over twenty years of experience in the low carbon sectors, spanning technology commercialisation in Canada, solar rural electrification in Morocco and financial sector development across emerging markets. During 2011, Mr. Usher worked on the establishment of the Green Climate Fund and led efforts to create its Private Sector Facility. Eric has been an editor of the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment report published annually with Bloomberg and was lead author for finance of the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources. Earlier in his career, Eric was General Manager of a solar rural electrification company based in Morocco.

Interim Managing Investment Director (Board Governance & Sustainability), CalPERS

Anne Simpson

Anne Simpson joined CalPERS in 2009 and was named interim managing investment director for Board Governance & Sustainability in June 2020.

She is responsible for strategic initiatives across the Fund. These include Climate Action 100+ (a global investor alliance of $40 trillion driving business action on climate change), the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, and the UN Secretary General’s Global Investors for Sustainable Development. Specific programs within investments include the Emerging Manager Program and the sustainable investment strategic plan.

In 2019 she was named by Time Magazine as one of the 15 women leading the global fight on climate change and in 2020 one of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance by Barron’s (Dow Jones). For 10 consecutive years from 2010-20 Anne has been ranked by the National Association of Corporate Directors as one of the year’s 100 most influential people in the boardroom.

She serves on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee, as well as the Senior Advisory Board at the Center for Responsible Business at Haas, University of California at Berkley. She also serves on the Leadership Council of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. Anne is an editorial board member of the journal “Directors & Boards.”

Anne has published several books in the field of Board Governance and Sustainability including “The Financial Ecosystem: The Role of Finance in Achieving Sustainability” with Satyajit Bose and Dong Guo of Columbia University; “Fair Shares: the Future of Shareholder Power and Responsibility” with Jonathan Charkham; and “The Greening of Global Investment: How the Environment, Ethics and Politics Are Reshaping Strategies.”

Previous roles included senior faculty fellow and lecturer at the Yale School of Management, head of the Global Corporate Governance Forum at the World Bank, executive director of the International Corporate Governance Network, and joint managing director of Pensions & Investment Research Consultants Ltd.

Anne graduated from Oxford University in the United Kingdom, where she read philosophy, politics and economics and was awarded bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She was a Slater Fellow at Wellesley College, Massachusetts.

Executive Dean, Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University

Professor Heather McGregor

Professor McGregor is non-executive chairman of the executive search firm Taylor Bennett. She is also the founder of the Taylor Bennett Foundation, which works to promote diversity in the communications industry. In addition, Professor McGregor is a non-executive director of two public companies.

Professor McGregor has a Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong in Structured Finance and is an experienced writer and broadcaster, including writing for the Financial Times for 17 years. She is also the founder of the Taylor Bennett Foundation, which works to promote diversity in the communications industry, and a founding member of the steering committee of the 30% Club, which is working to raise the representation of women at senior levels within the U.K.’s publicly listed companies.

In June 2015, Professor McGregor was made a Commander of the British Empire for her services to diversity and employment. In February 2017, she was appointed by the UK Government to be a member of the Honours Committee for the Economy.

Investor & Visiting Fellow, Cambridge University

David Pitt-Watson

David is a leading thinker and practitioner in responsible investment, and serves as a Member of GEFI’s Global Steering Group and Chair of the Scottish Green Finance Taskforce. Born and brought up in Scotland, he was co-founder, and CEO of Hermes Focus Funds & Equity Ownership Service. These became the largest responsible investment group of any fund manager in the world. Throughout his career he has been deeply involved in policy, particularly in the field of corporate governance and financial market regulation. He has led numerous initiatives to improve the performance of the financial system. At GEFI, David is the Chair of the Scottish Taskforce for Green and Sustainable Financial Services, for which GEFI is the secretariat.

CEO & Founder, GSV

Michael Moe

Michael Moe is the founder and CEO of GSV, a growth focused investment platform based in Silicon Valley. GSV has invested in companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, Snap, Lyft and Spotify. GSV has several funds focused on the emerging education technology sector and has invested in Coursera, Chegg, Pluralsight, 2U and Course Hero. GSV stands for “Global Silicon Valley”, the Megatrend of innovation and entrepreneurship that has made Silicon Valley such a remarkable place, is spreading throughout the World.

Before GSV, Michael was the founder and CEO of ThinkEquity, Head of Global Growth Research at Merrill Lynch, and was voted to be on the Institutional All American Research Team and named “Best on the Street” by the Wall Street Journal. Michael is a Board Member at Course Hero, SharesPost, Whittle Schools, OzyMedia, a Board Observer at Coursera, and an advisor to TAL and Arizona State University. Michael is the founder of GSV University and GSV MBA, an accredited graduate program for entrepreneurs. He is the author of two books, “Finding the Next Starbucks” and “The Global Silicon Valley Handbook” and in addition, is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

CEO, Committee on Climate Change (CCC)

Chris Stark

Chris Stark is the Chief Executive of the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC), the public body tasked by the Climate Change Act to be the independent authority on tackling climate change. Chris leads a team of analysts and specialists, offering expert insight into the challenges of reducing UK emissions and adapting to the changing climate.

Chris led the CCC’s work in 2019 to recommend a new ‘Net Zero’ target for the UK – now brought into law. He speaks regularly on the transition to a zero carbon economy and the need to confront climate change with urgency.

Chris has wide experience in government. He has designed economic policy in Whitehall, including in HM Treasury and the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. He was previously Director of Energy and Climate Change in the Scottish Government, leading the development of the Scottish energy and climate strategies.

Author & Economist

Prof Sir John Kay

John Kay is an economist whose career has spanned the academic world, business and finance, and public affairs. He has held chairs at the London Business School, the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics and is a Fellow of St John’s College, Oxford, the British Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. John is a director of several public companies and a contributing editor of the Financial Times. He chaired the Review of UK Equity Markets and Long-Term Decision-Making.

He is the author of many books, including The Truth About Markets, The Long and the Short of It and Obliquity. His latest book, Other People’s Money was a book of the year for Bloomberg, The Economist and the Financial Times, winner of the Saltire Literary Prize for non-fiction, and was short-listed for the Orwell Prize for political writing. His next book, Radical Uncertainty, jointly written with Mervyn King, will be published in March 2020.

CEO, Triodos Bank N.V.

Peter Blom

Peter Blom is the CEO and Chair of the Executive Board of Triodos Bank N.V., a position he has held since 1997. He has also served as a Statutory Director of Triodos Bank N.V. since 1989. He first joined the organisation in 1982 as a Loan Officer, rising to Joint Managing Director by 1989. He also serves as Statutory Director of Triodos Ventures B.V. and a Member of the Board of Triodos Holding and Triodos Sustainable Finance Foundation.

In addition to the roles he holds within the Triodos group, he is a Board Member of the Dutch Banking Association (NVB) and NatuurCollege. He is a co-founder and Chair of the Board of Global Alliance for Banking on Values and co-founder and co-Chair of the Board of the Sustainable Finance Lab. He chairs the Supervisory Board of MVO Nederland (CSR Netherlands) and is a member of the Club of Rome, and the Central Planning Committee of Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB).

Director & Co-founder, Global Ethical Finance Initiative

Omar Shaikh

Omar is the Managing Director of the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI). A Chartered Accountant by profession, he specialises in ethical finance, Islamic finance and private equity. He has extensive experience in financial services, has advised multiple governments on their capital markets, banking, pension and insurance regulation and is a regular speaker at ethical finance conference and events. Omar’s background includes working with EY where he was a Subject Matter Expert for Islamic finance.

Through his work at developmental body UKIFC, Omar launched the award winning Edinburgh Ethical Finance Round Table series, a platform that led to the inception of the Ethical Finance Hub and GEFI. Since 2018, GEFI has convened and connected stakeholders from across finance, government, business and the third sector to promote finance for positive change. As well as further building the Ethical Finance Round Table series, GEFI has established a number of events and campaigns, including the Ethical Finance Summit (a major conference), the Finance for Nature Series with UNEP and UNDP, the interfaith Edinburgh Finance Declaration, the unique Radical Old Idea platform and the Path to COP26 campaign, bringing together stakeholders to advance climate finance ahead of the crucial 2021 Glasgow summit.

Managing Partner, Prosperar Development Consulting

Modupe Ladipo

Modupe Ladipo is a financial inclusion expert and financial sector development specialist, with over 25 years’ diverse experience in development, financial services and the food industry. She was the first Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), and is one of the pioneers of financial inclusion in Nigeria.

She is the Managing Partner of Prosperar Development Consulting. She also holds the following non-executive positions – Chair of EFInA’s Board; Senior Adviser, Islamic Finance Council UK; and Legatum Institute Fellow.

Ms. Ladipo has extensive experience of providing strategic, fiscal, operational and thought leadership in complex and challenging environments. She is a dynamic, results-oriented leader with a strong track record of high performance in fast-paced organisations and a proven ability of setting up and successfully managing businesses. She has worked on assignments in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US.

CEO, Cornerstone Capital Group

Erika Karp

Erika Karp founded Cornerstone Capital Group to bring the disciplines of finance and economics together in pursuit of a more regenerative and inclusive form of capitalism.

Prior to launching Cornerstone, Erika was Managing Director and Head of Global Sector Research at UBS Investment Bank. She chaired the Global Investment Review Committee, served on the UBS Securities Research Executive Committee, and served on the Environmental and Human Rights Committee of the UBS Group Executive Board.

Her work has been featured by media including Bloomberg, The Guardian, the Financial Times, Investor Relations Magazine, and Forbes. Erika speaks on sustainable investing and finance at venues around the world including the UN Global Compact, the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the Clinton Global Initiative, the Wharton School, the NYSE, the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD), the Aspen Institute, the White House, and many other forums. Erika holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School.

Chief Executive, Chartered Banker Institute

Simon Thompson

Simon Thompson was appointed as Chief Executive of the Chartered Banker Institute, the oldest institute of bankers in the world, in 2007. Simon was recently appointed as the first Chair of the Global Banking Education Standards Committee, and is a former Vice-President of the European Bank Training Network.  He is the editor of Green Finance: Principles and Practice – the world’s first practitioner guide to green finance.

Chief Executive Officer, Group Transaction Banking at CIMB

Rafe Haneef

UK's High-Level Climate Action Champion

Nigel Topping

Nigel Topping is the UK’s High-Level Climate Action Champion, appointed by the UK Prime Minister in January 2020. Nigel works alongside the Chilean High-Level Climate Action Champion, Gonzalo Muñoz. The role of the high-level champions is to strengthen collaboration and drive action from businesses, investors, organisations, cities, and regions on climate change, and coordinate this work with governments and parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  

Nigel was most recently CEO of We Mean Business, a coalition of businesses working to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon economy. Prior to that he was Executive Director of the Carbon Disclosure Project, following an 18 year career in the private sector, having worked across the world in emerging markets and manufacturing. 

CEO, Gatehouse Bank

Charles Haresnape

Charles joined Gatehouse Bank as Chief Executive Officer in May 2017. Prior to joining the Bank, he was Group Managing Director at Aldermore Bank from January 2011, where he was responsible for residential and commercial mortgages, plus property development. Before joining Aldermore, Charles was with Connells, one of the UK’s largest estate agency groups, where he was Group Mortgage Services Director. Prior to Connells, he was responsible for intermediary mortgage lending at both NatWest and RBS, plus the branch mortgage sales force within NatWest. He has worked for a number of other household names in the UK banking and building society sectors, including Nationwide and HBOS where he was a senior executive, responsible for mortgage sales and portfolio acquisitions. Charles has been Deputy Chairman of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and Chairman of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA).

Nature for Development, UNDP

Jamison Ervin

UNDP’s Nature for Development Programme aims to identify and accelerate nature-based solutions to achieve the social and economic dimensions of the SDGs, at both local and national scales. Jamison’s current portfolio includes three areas: The Equator Prize; support to national biodiversity planning and reports; and the New York Declaration on Forests.

For nearly 30 years, Jamison’s career has focused on the intersection of nature and development. She has worked with UNDP since before 2009. Before that, she worked for the World Wide Fund for Nature, The Nature Conservancy and the Forest Stewardship Council, focusing on how to protect restore and sustainably manage nature to achieve multiple development dividends.

CEO & CIO, ImpactAssets

Margret Trilli

Margret’s 25-year career includes executive leadership, investment and operating roles for large and small companies including Barclays Global Investors/Blackrock and Charles Schwab. Her experience spans investment management, product management, strategy and planning, reengineering, turnarounds and business building. Margret’s investment expertise spans direct private equity and venture capital, international equities, currency hedging, commercial real estate, energy, natural resources, ESG/values-aligned strategies and impact investing.

She founded Intentional Capital, a boutique private equity firm serving custom direct investments to a select group of family offices, many of whom have fully developed impact investing strategies. Margret also serves on the boards and investment committees of three family offices.

Director (International Department), Bank of England

James Talbot

James has been Director of the International Department at the Bank of England since 2016. The Directorate analyses developments in, and risks from, the global economy and financial system in support of all the Bank’s policy objectives. It is responsible for advancing the Bank’s objectives on international policy issues through a range of global fora, including G20, G7, BIS, FSB and at the IMF.

James’ other roles at the Bank of England have included: Head of Monetary Assessment and Strategy Division, advising the MPC on Monetary Policy tools, implementation and strategy; working as a senior adviser on domestic and European macroprudential policy issues; and leading the preparation of the MPC’s quarterly UK forecast. James was UK Alternate Executive Director at the IMF from September 2008- September 2010.

Global Managing Director, Climate Policy Initiative

Barbara Buchner

Dr. Barbara Buchner is Global Managing Director of Climate Policy Initiative, and Executive Director of its widely renowned Climate Finance program. Named one of the 20 most influential women in climate change, Barbara advises leaders on climate, energy, and land use investments around the world.

Barbara directs the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, (the Lab) and its sister programs in Brazil and India. The Lab’s public-private approach solicits, shapes, and tests cutting edge climate finance instruments that resolve financing barriers hindering alternative energy, adaptation, and land use projects. Instruments from the Lab have mobilized over 2 billion US dollars for sustainable development in developing countries in just five years. She is also the lead author on CPI’s Global Landscape of Climate Finance, which has set the benchmark for climate finance tracking.

She is on the Advisory Board of the BCFN Foundation, the Evaluation Board of the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund, and a member of the One Planet Lab.

Chief Executive, Green Finance Institute

Dr. Rhian-Mari Thomas

Dr. Rhian-Mari Thomas is CEO of the Green Finance Institute, backed by the UK Government and City of London Corporation.

Rhian spent 20 years in investment and corporate banking and was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to green banking. She is an Emeritus Member of the TCFD, currently co-chair of the Informal Working Group for the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures and Advisory Board member for UCL Bartlett School for Environment, Energy and Resources and UK Government’s Climate Finance Accelerator. She is also a member of the UK Government’s Financial Services Trade Advisory Group, Net Zero Technology and Innovation Advisory Group.

Rhian was a commissioner on the Zero Carbon Commission and previously sat on the UK Government Green Finance Taskforce, the Banking Environment Initiative’s Fintech Taskforce and the steering group for the UN Environment Programme Principles for Responsible Banking.

Rhian holds a PhD in Physics from Trinity College Dublin.

Partner, Baillie Gifford

James Anderson

James has been the Manager and then Joint Manager of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust since 2000 and is a co-manager of the International Concentrated Growth Strategy. He Chaired the International Growth Portfolio Group from its inception in 2003 until July 2019 and remains co-manager of Vanguard International Growth. In 2003, James also co-founded our Long Term Global Growth Strategy. Prior to this, he headed our European Equity Team. James has served as a member of the Advisory Board of the government sponsored Kay Review and as Chair of the subsequent industry working group that set up the UK Investor Forum. He joined Baillie Gifford in 1983 and became a Partner in 1987. James graduated BA in History from the University of Oxford and after postgraduate study in Italy and Canada he gained an MA in International Affairs in 1982. He is a Trustee of the Johns Hopkins University.

Senior Adviser at the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI)

George Littlejohn

George Littlejohn qualified as a chartered accountant with PwC in London before becoming a journalist with The economist,  specialising in financial and economic matters. He is now Senior Adviser at the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), having conducted advisory work in financial centres across Europe, the Middle East and Asia over the past two decades. He is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, and the author of a number of works on risk management in finance. 

Filmmaker & Co-founder, Make My Money Matter

Richard Curtis

Former President, IsDB Group

Dr Bandar Hajjar

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is one of the world’s largest multilateral development banks, fostering economic development and social progress in its 57-member countries, across four continents, touching the lives of 1 in 5 of the world’s population. Since taking up his role as President, Dr Bandar has driven the Bank towards significant reform, making the organisation more globally facing, placing partnerships, technology and innovation and global engagement at the heart of their reform programme and working with Muslims and non-Muslims alike.  Prior to joining the IsDB, Dr Bandar served in senior ministerial positions in the Saudi government as Minister of Hajj and the Minister of Culture and Information for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Portfolio Manager & ESG Lead, Lothian Pension Fund

David Hickey

David manages Lothian’s European Equity portfolio, which invests in sustainable business franchises based in continental Europe.  He also leads the Fund’s work on Responsible Investment (annually assessed by the UN-backed organisation PRI) and ESG integration, which involves developing policy, influencing engagement activity and liaising with external partner organisations and industry bodies. Part of this includes being a lead engager with a utility company as part of Climate Action 100+.  David qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst in 2010, has been involved in managing equity portfolios since 2006 and has worked in the Edinburgh finance industry since graduating in 2002.

Partner, Shepherd + Wedderburn

Clare Foster

Co-CEO and Founding Partner, Bridges Fund Management

Michele Giddens

Michele co-founded Bridges alongside Philip Newborough and Sir Ronald Cohen in 2002. As a partner, she focuses on strategy, investor relations, public affairs and social impact assessment.

Michele plays a key role in the growth of the impact investing movement in the UK. She was an adviser to the UK Treasury’s Social Investment Task Force and chaired the Community Development Finance Association from 2003-2005. More recently, she chaired the UK National Advisory Board on Impact Investing, part of the Global Social Impact Investment Steering Group, from 2016-18. She sits on the BVCA Council, and is a Non-Executive Director on the board of CDC, the UK Government’s Development Finance Institution.

Michele has over 25 years of experience in international development and social finance. She began her career with International Finance Corporation, the private sector financing arm of the World Bank Group, where she ran small business lending programmes in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, and advised on microfinance in Bangladesh, the Middle East and Mongolia. She subsequently spent eight years with Shorebank Corporation, one of the leading community development banks in the USA.

Michele has a BA Honours in Politics, Philosophy & Economics from Oxford University and an MBA from Georgetown University, Washington, DC. She was recently awarded an OBE for services to international development and social finance in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

CEO, International, Federated Hermes

Saker Nusseibeh CBE

Saker is CEO of the international business of Federated Hermes, appointed November 2011, having joined in June 2009 as CIO. He is also a member of the Federated Hermes Executive team. Prior to this, Saker was Global Head of Equities at Fortis Investments, having previously been CIO Global Equities since 2005. Before this, he was CIO of Global Equities and Head of Marketing for SGAM UK. This followed SGAM’s acquisition of Trust Company of the West, where Saker was a Managing Director running global and international strategies, as well the London office. He started his career at Mercury Asset Management in 1987.

Saker is founder of the 300 Club and was an inaugural member of the CFA Institute’s Future of Finance Advisory Council from 2013 until 2019. He is a member of the IIRC Council, the FCA-PRA Climate Financial Risk Forum, the United Nations Environmental Programme Financial Initiative Steering Committee, the Banking Standards Board, the UK National Advisory Board on Impact Investing, and the advisory Board of the National Youth Orchestra.

In 2018, Saker was named CEO of the Year at the Financial News Asset Management Europe Awards. He has a BA and PhD in Medieval History from King’s College, University of London.

Saker was awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s 2019 New Year’s Honours list for services to Responsible Business and Finance.

Climate Change Lead, Royal London

Kaisie Rayner

Kaisie’s mission in life is to help  financial institutions understand sustainability and their role in enabling the transition to a low carbon economy.

She is currently the Climate Change Lead at Royal London, a commissioner at the Edinburgh Climate Commission, a fellow at the RSA and occasional lecturer at Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leaders. Prior to working with Royal London Kaisie was the Sustainable Investment Lead at Scottish Widows and has worked with Aegon, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS and Standard Life Investments.

Executive Chairman, Z/Yen Group, and Alderman & Sheriff of the City of London

Prof. Michael Mainelli

Executive Chairman, Z/Yen Group, and Alderman & Sheriff of the City of London

Head of Capital Markets, European Investment Bank

Eila Kreive

Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment

Simon Culhane

Simon Culhane was appointed Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment in May 2004, having previously worked both with a number of blue chip financial companies and in Central Government. His previous role was at Deutsche Bank, where he worked as Director, Chairman’s Office, Global Investment Banking.

For three years prior to this Simon was Deputy Director, Prime Minister’s Efficiency Unit, Cabinet Office, where he was responsible for the Unit’s work in a number of major Government Departments.

Simon spent his early career with Lloyds Bank plc in a number of roles including Senior Group Manager, Retail Banking for the Kensington area and in Chicago, USA.

A Chartered Fellow of the CISI and Member of the Institute of Financial Services, he was educated at St Paul’s School, London and the University of Surrey. He is married with four children and his interests include sailing and supporting AFC Wimbledon.

Founder, Real Leaders

Mark Van Ness

Global Head Sustainable Finance, ING

Leonie Schreve

Board Member, EPFA

Charles Munn

Head of Capital Strategy, The Royal Bank of Scotland

Scott Forrest

CEO, SEDCO Holding Group

Hasan Al Jabri

Hasan Al Jabri is the CEO of SEDCO Holding Group since April 2018. Prior to that he was CEO of SEDCO Capital since 2010 and has over 35 years of banking experience managing senior positions in leading banks including The National Commercial Bank & Samba Financial Group. Mr. Al Jabri was also NCBC board member, Managing Director, and head of Investment Banking, he also served as Chairman of the Funds Board covering all of NCB Capital’s mutual funds business until leaving NCBC in 2010.

Upon joining SEDCO Capital Hasan was also appointed as Chairman of SEDCO Capital Investment Committee, Chairman of SEDCO Capital Global Funds and Chairman of SEDCO Capital Luxembourg Board. Hasan has focused investments of SEDCO Capital both locally and internationally in different asset classes including private equity, public equity and real estate, whilst ensuring that all these investments comply with the Shari’a guidelines. Under his leadership, SEDCO Capital became the first fully Sharia compliant asset manager and the first Saudi asset manager to become a signatory of the UNPRI. He is also the thought leader bridging Sharia investing with ESG and responsible investing and created the new concept of “Prudent Ethical Investing” (PEI).

Mr. AlJabri received The European’s Islamic Finance Personality of the Year MENA 2016, Global Islamic Finance Awards Islamic Finance Personality of the Year 2013 & 2016, CEO of the year by the Global Invest Group and Best CEO in Asset Management Industry 2017 by the European CEO and was ranked among the top 50 Global Leaders in 2016 by Islamica 500.

Hasan currently serves the boards of several listed & private companies in different sectors.

Mr. Al Jabri has a B.Sc. in Engineering from the American University of Beirut and is a graduate of the Executive Management Program at Columbia University.

CEO, SEDCO Capital

Samer Abu Aker

Samer Abu Aker is the CEO of SEDCO Capital. Since joining the Firm in 2011 he has also held the positions of COO and CFO. In his current capacity as CEO, Mr. Abu Aker reports to the Board of Directors, and provides the strategic vision, planning, and operational leadership to guide the Firm along its sustainable growth trajectory. Mr. Abu Aker also Chairs SEDCO Capital’s investment and management committees as well as the Board of Directors of SEDCO Capital Global Funds in Luxembourg, which collectively set the tone for the Firm’s investment, governance, and compliance decisions.

Mr. Abu Aker has over 20 years of executive experience in the investment industry, both regionally and globally, and has built a reputation for delivering financial results and effectively managing risks. During his career he has participated in institutional investment decision-making, lead the restructuring of legacy investments, arranged financing, and established global investment structures. He has first-hand experience in adhering to global business protocols, applying world-class industry practice, and cultivating cross-cultural work environments.

Before joining SEDCO Capital, Mr. Abu Aker was COO at Al Brooge Securities in Abu Dhabi, Executive Director at Abu Dhabi Investment House, CFO at Litespeed Management in New York, and held senior management positions in the Bank of New York, Alternative Investment Services in Bermuda and the Royal Bank of Canada in Hamilton.
He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Canada’s Brock University. Mr. Abu Aker is a Canadian citizen.

Head of Governance and Sustainability, Baillie Gifford

Andrew Cave

Andrew joined Baillie Gifford as Head of Governance and Sustainability in May 2015. He is also a member of the Global Stewardship Portfolio Construction Group. In his previous role as Chief Sustainability Officer for RBS, Andrew was responsible for helping to rebuild RBS’s approach to corporate responsibility after the financial crisis. He is a member of the Financial Reporting Council’s Investor Advisory Group and is a former Chairman of the UK Global Compact Network. Andrew graduated MA in History from the University of Edinburgh in 1999 and MSc in International Development from London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in 2001. He has subsequently obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Business from the University of Cambridge.

Head of Sustainability and Assurance, ICAS

Anne Adrain

President-Elect, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Louise Pryor

Acting Head of Department, Strategic and Cross-cutting Policy, Financial Conduct Authority

Alex Smith

Head of Responsible Investment, NEST

Diandra Soobiah

Chief Impact Officer for Tribe Impact Capital

Amy Clarke

Associate Editor, Breakingviews

George Hay

George Hay is an associate editor in Breakingviews’ London office, covering commodities, the Middle East and general financial policy issues. Prior to that he was Breakingviews’ European Financial Editor, and also worked as a correspondent for AFX News and United Business Media. He has an undergraduate degree from Edinburgh University, a Graduate Diploma in Economics from Birkbeck, University of London, and his work has been recognised at the UK’s Business Journalist of the Year Awards.

Head of Smart Beta, Sustainable and Thematic ETFs, BlackRock

Manuela Sperandeo

Manuela Sperandeo, Managing Director, is EMEA Head of Smart Beta, Sustainable and Thematic ETFs for EII, responsible for driving the strategy for these product segments across product development, distribution and thought leadership. Prior to that, she was a member of the iShares Product Innovation team where she was responsible for Fixed Income product research. Manuela joined Blackrock in April 2014 from Barclays, where she spent 6 years working across several roles in the Investment Bank and the Wealth and Investment Management divisions. Most recently she was a Director at Barclays Capital Fund Solutions, an asset management business specializing in absolute return and alternative indexation strategies. Prior to that, she was a member of the Product Development team focusing on investment products for Barclays private and retail clients. Prior to Barclays she worked as an investment analyst at Alpstar, a credit hedge fund and as a Structured Derivatives Sales at Credit Suisse. Manuela has been a founding board member of the European chapter of Women in ETFs.

Manuela earned an Economics Degree, with distinction, from Bocconi University in Milan and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Chair (Europe, Middle East and Asia), Norton Rose Fulbright

Farmida Bi

Farmida Bi CBE has been EMEA Chair of Norton Rose Fulbright since May 2018 and is based in London. She has more than 25 years of experience in capital markets and Islamic finance, and is also European Head of Islamic Finance. She joined the firm as a partner in 2008, and was previously a partner at another large international firm. She has also worked in the London offices of other leading US and UK-based firms.

Farmida continues to advise clients and her practice is diverse, including sovereign bonds and programmes, Islamic finance, project bonds, restructurings and regulatory issues. Her clients include sovereigns and other government-related entities, international financial institutions and corporate service providers.

In addition to her constitutional role as Chair of the firm’s Partnership Committee, her focus has been to enhance the firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme, which includes sustainability, diversity and inclusion and pro bono.

Farmida is named as a ‘leading individual’ for Islamic finance and debt capital markets in The Legal 500 UK 2020; was listed in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 for 2019; has been awarded ‘Best in Banking and Finance’ twice at the European Women in Business Law Awards; and was named one of the five most powerful Muslim women in the UK in The Times’ inaugural Muslim Women Power List.

She is a graduate of Downing College, Cambridge and qualified as a solicitor in 1992, and as a New York attorney in 1999.

Farmida was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2020 for services to the law and to charity.

Consultant, Global Ethical Finance Initiative

Gail Hurley

Senior Advisor, Global Ethical Finance Initiative

Graham Burnside

Graham is a recognised expert in banking and finance law, specialising in particular in structured finance and capital markets, along with debt trading and financial product documentation. He pioneered the legal development of Islamic finance within Scotland on which he is now considered the country’s leading expert, having structured and documented the first (and so far only) Islamic mortgage products operating under Scots law and the first fully Sharia-compliant commercial real estate financing in Scotland. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Islamic Finance Council UK. The latest edition of Chambers & Partners Guide to the legal profession conferred on Graham the accolade of “Senior Statesman” in banking and finance law in Scotland, the only lawyer so recognised.

Head of Social Strategy & Impact, NatWest Group

Thom Kenrick

Global Head of Sustainable Finance, Corporate & Institutional Banking, NAB

David Jenkins

David leads NAB’s Sustainable Finance team has been active in sustainable debt financing for over 10 years.  He works closely with NAB Treasury, NAB’s coverage and product teams servicing customers across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the UK and USA developing and originating sustainable financing solutions for NAB and its clients.

David is an active member of industry bodies including the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative, New Zealand Sustainable Finance Forum, the ICMA Green Bond & Social Bond Principles Advisory Council and Climate Transition Finance WG, the APLMA Green and Sustainability-linked Loans Committee, Climate Bonds Initiative, Climate Kic and is involved in several industry sustainability initiatives.

NAB has received numerous sustainable finance industry awards including being recognised as a Climate Bonds Initiative Green Bond Pioneer, KangaNews Australian Sustainability Debt House of the Year, KangaNews Australian Sustainability Issuer of the Year, KangaNews Best Provider of Sustainability & ESG Fixed Income Research and numerous deal awards for their innovative and market leading transactions.   NAB is also the highest ranked Australian company in the Corporate Knights Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations Index announced at the World Economic Forum in January 2020.

David holds an MBA (Finance) from London Business School, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investment from the Financial Services Institute of Australia (FINSIA) and a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from the University of Queensland.

Author, New Fund Order

JB Beckett

Author, New Fund Order

Managing Director, The Big Exchange

Jill Jackson

Jill Jackson is the Managing Director of The Big Exchange, a direct to consumer financial services platform, beginning with investments that aims to provide a financial return as well as a positive social and environmental impact. Jill is a Non-Executive Director on the TISA board and was previously Head of UK Retail at Aberdeen Standard Investments. Jill has a keen interest in Ethical and Impact investing and sat on the Ethical Funds Advisory Board at Aberdeen Standard Investments. Prior to that Jill was the Retail Business Director at Standard Life Investments and the Retail Director at Ignis Asset Management. Jill has 25 years’ experience in Asset Management.

Chair, Council on Ethics, Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global

Johan H. Andresen

Johan H. Andresen is Chair, Council on Ethics, Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), appointed first in 2015 and reappointed in 2019. GPFG is the largest single mandate fund in the world with assets of more than USD 1 trillion and is invested in more than 9000 companies worldwide. Johan is also Chair of the Board of Ferd which is fully owned by him and his family. Ferd is one of the largest privately held industrial and financial groups in Norway with roots back to 1849 and consist today of five business areas, of which four are fully commercial and one is dedicated to scaling social entrepreneurs. Other directorships include NMI-Nordic Microfinance Initiative, which he launched together with the Government of Norway, and Junior Achievement Europe. He has an MBA from Erasmus, Rotterdam School of Management, and a BA from Dartmouth College.

Chair of the SASB Standards Board

Jeffrey Hales

Jeffrey Hales serves as the Chair of the 9-person Standards Board at SASB. In his role as Chair, he oversees the agenda setting and due process associated with the SASB standards development and maintenance.

Jeffrey Hales teaches at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is the Charles T. Zlatkovich Centennial Professor of Accounting. He is a graduate of the accounting program at Brigham Young University and received his Ph.D. from Cornell University.

His research interests center on accounting standard setting and regulation, individual decision making, and behavioral finance, using techniques from applied game theory, experimental economics, and psychology. His research has appeared in The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Review of Accounting Studies, and the Journal of Financial Economics, among other journals. He currently serves as an editor for Accounting Horizons and Contemporary Accounting Research. He also currently serves on the editorial boards of The Accounting Review and Accounting Organizations and Society. At Georgia Tech, he teaches financial accounting and Ph.D. seminars on behavioral accounting and finance, policy-oriented research in accounting, and the psychology of judgment and decision making.

During the 2009-10 academic year, Dr. Hales was a Research Fellow at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in Norwalk, CT. In addition, he currently serves as a member of the FASB’s Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC) and previously chaired the Standards Council for the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).

Founder, New Money

Rebecca Jones

Rebecca Jones is the founder of sustainable finance specialist New Money and a financial journalist. She has worked with the Make My Money Matter campaign and The Big Issue Group, as well as leading sustainable investors EQ Investors, Liontrust Fund Partners and M&G. Formerly the editor of Good With Money and personal finance correspondent and business editor for iNews, she decided a while back to try to make money better. She’s still going. Find her on LinkedIn here.

Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Scottish Government

Kate Forbes, MSP

Kates Forbes is a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the SNP, and serves as Cabinet Secretary for Finance in the Scottish Government.