Confirmed Speakers

Adrie Heinsbroek is Principal Responsible Investment Specialist in the Responsible Investment (RI) team at NN Investment Partners (NN IP). He has been working in the field of corporate responsibility and responsible investing since 1996. Adrie has always been active in the area of integrating sustainability or sustainable factors into the investment decision making process.

First at a privately owned asset manager and later at ING Bank’s Investment Office, Adrie focused on selecting investment funds that integrate ESG factors and increasing client awareness of the relevance of ESG. From analysing sustainable strategies and methodologies he switched to the strategic Sustainability department at ING Bank in Amsterdam and railed a few years later to Brussel to steer the sustainability agenda of ING Belgium. In 2017 Adrie started at NN Investment Partners to provide guidance to the Responsible Investment team to further embed the integration of ESG-factors in the investment processes and to the active ownership responsibilities, by empowering colleagues and clients. Adrie is determined to make NNIP a leader in Responsible Investing.

A graduate of the EDHEC Business School, Adrien Bommelaer began his career in 1997 as a sell-side analyst in London at Credit Suisse. In 2005, he became an analyst for the hardware and semiconductor sector. In 2012 he became a member of the global portfolio management team of Alliance Trust Investments before joining the Sustainability Investment Team. In 2016 he became the co-manager for global funds. Adrien was appointed partner at Lion Trust asset management when it acquired ATI. In 2017 he joined La Financière de l’Echiquier as co-manager of Echiquier Major SRI Growth Europe. Today Adrien heads the SRI European Large Cap and Impact team.

Andy joined ISLA in 2013 and took over as Chief Executive in mid-2016. As well as leading the Association’s advocacy efforts with policy makers and regulators, he is also responsible for defining the aims and objectives of the Association and ensuring that we meet the needs and requirements of our member firms across Europe, Middle East & Africa. He regularly participates in panel discussions at conferences and events, representing the interests of the industry and advocating the importance of securities lending to the efficient functioning of the broader capital markets.

Prior to joining ISLA, he held senior product and account management roles across the securities finance industry including Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Prudential M&G and IHS Markit (formerly Data Explorers).

Before joining the world of capital markets, Andy worked in commercial and corporate finance banking including aerospace finance.

Andrew has over 30 years of experience as a global risk and finance specialist and was recently appointed to lead a new cross sector global team to develop and expand Fitch’s analysis of ESG and sustainable finance. Andrew is responsible for developing Fitch’s sustainable finance strategy, both within the ratings business and across the broader Fitch group, by determining investor and banker needs, and driving the development of new teams to provide products and services for this rapidly growing area. Initially the sustainable finance team is based in London, New York and Beijing, but will expand in size, scope and location dependent on identified constituent needs.

Andrew has held several senior management roles within Fitch over the last 14 years. In Europe from 2004 to 2010 he ran the energy, utilities, project finance and regulated transportation analytical groups. From 2010 to 2017 he was based in Singapore and led the development of Fitch’s Asia Pacific Corporate Ratings Group. Then on his return to Europe in 2017 he was regional head of Fitch’s EMEA Corporate Ratings Group, and also successfully ran a global executive project to transform and improve Fitch’s overseas office network.
From 2000 to 2004, Andrew was head of ABN Amro’s structured industry finance, power and utilities group for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He also previously worked for Edison Capital Europe as a private equity investment director in infrastructure, for the energy company PowerGen plc (now EON) as a senior project finance manager, and in the banking sector as a mezzanine, leveraged buy-out and cross-border M&A lender and advisor.

From 2006-2010 Andrew actively assisted the United Nation’s Economic Council for Europe advising on energy and risk issues, and was a member of the UNECE Ad Hoc Group of Experts on Sustainable Energy Developments. Andrew speaks regularly at conferences and forums on a wide range of risk based issues. He is currently a trustee of the Great Ormand Street Hospital based children’s charity CLEFT.

Andrew graduated with a BSc Hons in Psychology from Bristol University in 1989, and has a postgraduate diploma from INSEAD business school (CGEM 2016).

Angélica Afanador is Associate Director at Guidehouse advising financial institutions on their transition to net-zero emissions. She is also the Program Manager of the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), an initiative that enables banks and investors to measure the emissions associated with loans and investments.

Angélica combines strategy consulting experience with expertise in sustainable and climate finance. With more than 15 years’ experience, Angélica has a track record of advising clients on their decarbonization journey.

Her most notable recent work centers on working with financial institutions on assessing the climate impact of their loans and investments, setting targets that align their portfolios with the Paris Climate Agreement, and identify pragmatic actions that would help financial institutions achieve the targets. Throughout this journey, she helps financial institutions find new and attractive products to offer to their clients, enabling the realization that financing the global transition to a net zero emissions economy can be compatible with their financial goals. Angélica co-developed a harmonized framework to set science-based targets for the financial industry and leads Guidehouse’s work on science-based targets for financial institutions.

Angélica is author of several publications on climate and sustainability issues. Prior to joining Guidehouse, she spent half a decade working in international climate and energy projects in Latin America, Africa and Asia with the World Bank and the United Nations.

Anna Zubets-Anderson is a Vice President – ESG Analyst at Moody’s ESG Solutions Group. Anna’s work is focused on establishing thought leadership in sustainable finance markets. Anna supports the development of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) research at Moody’s and represents the firm at conferences and in conversations with investors, media, standard setters and the academic community.
Prior to her current role, Anna served on the green bonds team and was a member of Moody’s Global ESG Working Group, focused on exploring how ESG risks impact the global credit markets. After joining Moody’s in 2009, she spent several years covering a portfolio of companies within basic industries.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Anna was an accounting litigation consultant at Marks Paneth & Shron LLP and worked at KPMG LLP as an audit manager and a member of their International Standards Group in London, UK. Anna is a Certified Public Accountant, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from San Francisco State University. She is fluent in Russian and English.

Anne Marie joined the Cambridge University Endowment Fund as the Managing Director, Marketable Assets, in 2020.  Previously, she was with GIC, a sovereign wealth fund, where she spent 12 years as a Senior Vice President and Global Equities Portfolio Manager.  Prior to GIC, she was with Morgan Stanley, where she worked for seven years as an equities Portfolio Manager and an Equity Research Analyst.  She also spent seven years with Deloitte & Touche in the US and UK. She earned her MBA from London Business School and her Bachelor of Arts degree (with Honors and Distinction) from the University of California at Berkeley.  Anne Marie is a non-executive director of the Investor Forum, a CIC set up to facilitate engagement and long-term capital stewardship, and a co-founder of the charity Girls Are Investors (GAIN), which encourages young women to consider investing as a career.

Anne-Claire Roux is Managing Director of Finance for Tomorrow at Paris EUROPLACE, the organization in charge of promoting the Paris Financial Center and the French financial industry internationally. Finance for Tomorrow, launched in June 2017, is the branch of Paris EUROPLACE to make green and sustainable finance a key driving force in the development of the Paris Financial Center and to position it as a hub of reference on these issues. It brings together nearly 70 members from the French ecosystem (Banks, Investors, Companies, Think tanks, Non-Financial rating agencies, NGO’s…).

She leads the different activities of Finance For Tomorrow as well as institutional relations and international cooperation. Previously, she was Head of Sustainable Finance at Paris EUROPLACE and was notably in charge of coordinating the different actions at COP21 and COP22, especially the global coordination of the 1 st Climate Finance Day held in Paris in May 2015.

Her other functions at Paris EUROPLACE also included the development of relations with Russia & Kazakhstan, and in particular the cooperation with the Moscow International Financial Center and the Financial Center of Astana, as well as with various local partners.

Anne-Claire Roux is a graduate of EHESS (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales). For her Master thesis, she studied the political and environmental impacts of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Russia. She also holds a Masters degree in Political Science and a Bachelor degree in History from La Sorbonne University.

Anne-Claire Roux has also been selected by the C40 to participate in the “Women4Climate” mentorship program in Paris which aims to contribute to the emergence of the next generation of climate leaders by sharing knowledge and experiences through an ambitious mentorship programme dedicated to women in C40 cities.

Carine Smith Ihenacho is responsible for the governance and compliance area, which includes ownership and responsible investment activities, control and operational risk, compliance and legal services.

Carine Smith Ihenacho was appointed Chief Governance and Compliance Officer 6 October 2020. She joined Norges Bank Investment Management in August 2017 as Global Head of Ownership Strategies and was promoted to Chief Corporate Governance Officer on 1 January 2018.

Prior to joining Norges Bank Investment Management, Ms Ihenacho was Vice President Legal and Chief Compliance Officer in Statoil ASA. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a lawyer, working in both financials and the oil and gas industry, as well as in law firms. She also has extensive board experience.

Ihenacho holds a law degree from the University of Oslo, a Master of Law from Harvard Law School and a Master of Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).

Céline Soubranne is AXA Group Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer since July 2018. Graduated of Science Po, after initial experience in journalism, local authorities and consulting, she joined AXA in 2006 as Head of Transformation and Communication, then Director of Corporate Responsibility at AXA France and also Secretary General of the AXA Prevention association, which works to educate the general public about risks. She has driven the first ESG integration program in insurance products in France, with the creation of the “Citizen Insurance” Label. In December 2014, she was awarded the Women’s Citizenship Trophy at the “Women in Insurance” Trophies.

A former graduate in Maths (Ecole Normale Supérieure) and Political Sciences (Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris), Claire Tutenuit is an Ingénieur au Corps des Mines.

As such she started her career in the Ministry of Industry in 1982. She joined business in 1987, first in the sector of environment (Compagnie Générale des Eaux, now Veolia) and later in the aerospace sector (Matra, now Airbus), where she spent 10 years with business development and strategy responsibilities. Since 2001 she has been an independent consultant in strategy, organisation and environment in these same sectors.

She has been the Délégué Général of Entreprises pour l’Environnement (EpE) since the end of 2005. The French partner of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), EpE is a think tank of some 40 companies that share the vision of environment as a source of progress and opportunities, and work together to better take it into account in their management and strategies. Claire Tutenuit has written a book and various articles; she is a member of the Board of Fondation pour la Nature et l’Homme, of Ineris and of GRDF.

Over the last 20 years, Maryam’s careers has spanned working in senior executive and advisory roles in the industry, government and the United Nations. She has led, drove, influenced, and managed transformative multi-stakeholder climate risk initiatives in the private and public sectors, with global impact to scale up transitioning to a resilient low-carbon economy. In 2020, Maryam was included in a list of those ‘Most Influential on Climate Change’ produced by InsuranceERM and was chosen among top 100 global influencers on ‘Resilience’, by The Leaders’ Magazine.

Currently, she is the Director of Climate Change and Emerging Environmental Risks at The Geneva Association (GA), an international strategy think tank. She is working with group CEOs and the C-Suite teams of the largest global insurance companies, leading strategic industry-level initiatives to boost insurance industry’s contributions as risk managers and investors to transitioning to resilience net zero economy.  She leads the industry-led Task Force on Climate Risk Assessment to advance sector-specific decision-useful climate risk assessment methodologies, linked to TCFD; initiated and is leading projects on climate litigation risk; technologies for disrupting economic sectors’ business models and environmental risks associated with the transitioning. She works at the forefront of innovative public-private solutions for strengthening and investing in resilience green critical infrastructure, and peril specific risk management in both mature and emerging economies.

From 2004 to 2014 Maryam was the Chief of International Disaster Risk Reduction Program at the UN’s World Meteorological Organization, where she headed up and built an international program and worked with 40+ governments to develop climate and disaster risk management national capacities. She also developed the initial concept national climate data services to enable access to publicly-funded, climate data and modelling for decision-making in the private sector.

In 1997, Maryam founded and served as the CEO of the first climate risk analytics and research firm, Climate Risk Solutions Inc., headquartered in Boston, MA, where she delivered innovative climate-risk assessment and risk management solutions to companies in the energy, agriculture and financial sectors and the US government.

Maryam serves on a number of executive and advisory boards in the public and private sectors and multi-lateral organizations. She mentors high-tech start-ups with climate change and risk focus. She has authored numerous internationally referenced reports and a book “Partnerships in Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems” (Springer-Verlag 2012).

She holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University, an MS in Applied Physics and a PhD in Physical Oceanography from Harvard University  and worked a senior research fellow at the Harvard Business School.

Dr. Ron Dembo is one the world’s leading authorities in risk management. He has had a distinguished teaching and research career at Yale University and as a visiting professor at MIT. He is also the Founder and CEO of several successful firms, including Algorithmics Incorporated, providing risk management solutions to 70% of the world’s top hundred banks, and Zerofootprint, providing innovative solutions for offsets and carbon reduction to over 250 large firms.

Dr. Dembo’s latest venture, Riskthinking.AI, leverages his expertise in risk management, algorithms and carbon to tackle one of the biggest hurdles facing companies today: measuring climate-related financial risk. Riskthinking.AI’s unique, algorithmically-generated, science-based, multi-factor scenarios, reveal the distribution of risks facing physical and investment assets, consistently across transition risk scenarios.

Dr. Dembo has published extensively in peer reviewed scientific publications and received many patents and awards for his research. In 2007, he was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus, Waterloo University, and as a Lifetime Fellow at The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences.

As of January 2019, Edith Siermann joined NN Investment Partner as Head of Fixed Income Solutions & Responsible Investing. She is part of the Management Team Investments and adds additional focus on responsible investing within Fixed Income.

She has more than 25 years of asset management industry experience and joined from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch central bank, where she fulfilled the role of Chief Investment Officer. In that capacity, Edith was responsible for managing the central bank reserves, invested in both fixed income and equities and was member of DNB’s Corporate Social Responsibility committee, responsible for the integration of sustainability within the central bank’s core activities.

Prior to this, Edith was Global Chief Investment Officer Fixed Income and Managing Director at Robeco, where she successfully developed both quantitative and qualitative Fixed Income products and business in a broad range of fixed income asset classes. Additionally, she coordinated Robeco’s responsible investing activities and headed the Governance and Active Ownership team. She holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Elina started her banking career in the Nordea Group in risk management and later on in international banking. She joined the Financial Institutions team of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London in 2001 and built a track record in business origination, structuring and execution of financing transactions ranging from senior debt to equity in various countries of EBRD’s operation. Elina moved to Luxembourg and to European Investment Bank (EIB) in 2006 and has since held several positions in the EIB. Before taking up her role as a head of the newly created Climate Office in the Bank’s operations directorate in the beginning of 2020, she lead EIB’s corporate lending team covering eleven markets in central and norther Europe. During her career, Elina has contributed to a number of green financing initiatives involving both public and private sector promoters and including financing of green innovation.

Eric Usher currently heads the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, UNEP FI, a global partnership bringing together the UN with 230 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 work now underway on the establishment of Principles for Responsible Banking. 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, as a member of the Evaluation Council of the French sovereign green bond, as Director for the impact fund REPP Africa and founder of the Seed Capital Assistance Facility.

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. Before joining the UN, Eric was General Manager of a solar rural electrification company based in Morocco.

Since 2006, Eva Halvarsson has acted as the CEO of the Second Swedish National Pension Fund — AP2.  She heads up an organization with more than SEK 345 billion (approx. USD 43 billion) under management in virtually every asset class, and one that is active in all parts of the world; AP2 is one of northern Europe’s largest pension funds.

Ms. Halvarsson began her career as an accountant, progressing to the point that before joining AP2, she spent ten years working for the Swedish Government where she was responsible for the governance and management of the large and extensive portfolio of state owned companies.

Eva Halvarsson has had a distinguished and varied leadership career. She took part in the working group that put into effect the Swedish Corporate Governance Code in 2004. She also spent several years, serving on the Swedish Corporate Governance Board. Eva has been a board member of several large companies and has chaired the nomination committees of some of Sweden’s largest listed companies. She recently left after serving for ten years as the Deputy Chairperson of the board of the University of Gothenburg.

Presently, she is board member of the UN-PRI (the United Nation´s Principles for Responsible Investments), Vasakronan (the largest real estate company in Sweden), The Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development and The Royal Swedish Opera. In addition, she serves on the advisory board of the Women Entrepreneur´s Opportunity Facility, the first-ever global finance facility dedicated exclusively to women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises.

Eva Halvarsson was born in 1962 and holds an MSc in Business and Economics from the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg.

Fabrice Rahmouni joined Euronext as Head of the Index department in March 2013. He is responsible for leading and driving the innovation for Euronext’s portfolio of Blue-Chip and ESG Indexes. Graduating with a DEA in Econometrics from Paris X University, Fabrice Rahmouni began his career in 2000 at BNP Paribas Equities, where he joined the market strategy team as an analyst. In 2005 he joined the research and strategy team at BNP Paribas Arbitrage, specifically taking charge of the development of research on Future and Options and in 2008, he joined the “Delta one” trading team of BNP Paribas CIB where he was responsible for the development of quantitative index research.

Geraldine Ang works as a senior policy analyst on green finance and investment at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which she joined in 2011. Under the OECD Centre on Green Finance and Investment, she has developed several projects to support the global green finance and investment agenda, including on: the role of central banks to address sustainability in the financial system; integrating climate factors in institutional investment; integrating biodiversity factors in business and investment decisions, and mobilising clean energy finance and investment. Geraldine has co-authored multiple OECD reports, such as the OECD report contributed to the G7 Environment in 2019 on Biodiversity: Finance and the Economic and Business Case for Action. She has organised several events on green finance and investment, such as the annual OECD Forum on Green Finance and Investment and the High-Level Breakfast on Institutional Investors and the Low-Carbon Transition. Prior to joining the OECD, she conducted research on climate mitigation for the Earth Institute. Previously, she worked for Lagardere Active and the French Senate. Geraldine holds a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University’s SIPA (2011), and a Master of Science in Management from HEC Paris (2006).

Heike Reichelt is Head of Investor Relations and Sustainable Finance at the World Bank Treasury. The World Bank Treasury manages the funding programs for the World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), and the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm). Her team is responsible for managing relationships with bond investors, rating agencies and the financial media, and developing new bond products. These include products to raise awareness for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change mitigation and adaptation – like World Bank Green Bonds and World Bank Sustainable Development Bonds. Heike also manages outreach to the sustainable and impact investing community and works with other issuers and market participants to encourage the growth of sustainable capital markets focused on making a long-term positive social and environmental impact through integration of environmental, social and governance criteria (ESG) in investment decisions. She has 20+ years of experience in finance – including as an engagement manager for the World Bank Treasury’s Reserves Advisory Management Program for central banks and in the areas of export finance and capital markets, during her career at KfW, the largest German development bank. Heike was recognized for her role in building sustainable capital markets as the 2017 recipient of the prestigious Joan Bavaria Award.

Isabelle Bourcier is Head of Quantitative and Index Management at BNP Paribas Asset Management. Appointed to lead a team that includes close to 50 staff based in Paris, Munich and Milan, she supervises various areas of expertise (portfolio management, structuring, sales and marketing). BNP Paribas Asset Management’s quantitative and index management offers a wide range of market access (ETFs/funds/index mandates) and smart beta solutions (single and multi-factor strategies) covering various asset classes.

Isabelle has 25 years of experience in Finance. She Joined BNP Paribas Asset Management in 2016. From 2011 to 2015, Isabelle was Managing Director, head of Business Development at Ossiam. From 2000 to 2010, she was Global Head of the ETF business at Lyxor Asset Management, a subsidiary of Société Générale. Isabelle is a member of the board of Women in ETFs for Europe, Middle-East and Africa (EMEA) region. She holds a master’s in International Management from the Institut Supérieur Européen de Gestion business school.

Joël PROHIN (51) heads the portfolio management team of Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) within the Financial Investment Division. He is responsible for 140 bn€ of AuM, invested in fixed income, equities, real estate and private equity, mostly managed internally. He manages 5 asset management teams (60 people in staff). He is also member of the French institutional investors association (Af2i) Strategic Committee on behalf of CDC. Before joining CDC in 2011, Joël was head of investment strategy division in Allianz France. He worked beforehand in ALM, both in the insurance sector (AGF) and in the banking sector (Crédit National). Joël studied economics, finance and statistics; he graduated in 1988 from ENSAE (Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique) and from University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Jovita has more than four years of experience in asset management and is co-managing the green bond portfolios at NN IP. Since 2019 Jovita is responsible for management and development of the green bond strategy. From 2017 to 2018 she was an Investment Management Trainee at NN IP. In addition to working in the Green Bond team, during this period she gained experience in a number of departments working on a range of ESG related projects. Prior to joining NN IP, Jovita was Operations Analyst at Quay Partners Investments in Vilnius and Emerging Markets Analyst at Euromonitor International also in Vilnius. Jovita is a CFA Exam Level III candidate and has an MSc in Financial Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a BSc in Finance from ISM University of Management and Economics, Vilnius.

Katharina works in the Responsible Investment team at Nest where she is responsible for Nest’s approach to climate change risks and opportunities. Prior to joining Nest in 2019 Katharina worked at RPMI Railpen and Aberdeen Standard Investments. Katharina holds an MA in Philosophy and Economics from the University of Edinburgh and is studying towards an MSc in Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment at UCL. She is a CFA charterholder.

I would probably talk about our climate aware strategies and can talk about some of the metrics we are exploring to measure the impact of the strategy but can refine that once I’ve got a better idea of how the panel is going to be structured.

Magnus Billing is the CEO of Alecta. Alecta provides collectively agreed occupational pensions, and is owned by approximately 2.4 million private customers and 34,000 corporate clients. Alecta’s assets under management amount to approximately USD 90 billion.

In 2016 Mr. Billing was appointed to be member of the European Commissions’ “high-level expert group” on sustainable finance. In January 2018, the group delivered their final recommendations for “a comprehensive EU strategy on sustainable finance as part of the Capital Markets Union”, which informed the Commissions’ Action plan on Sustainable Finance launched in 2018.

Prior to joining Alecta, Mr. Billing was the CEO of Nasdaq Nordics, and Head of Fixed Income Nordic and Baltic Markets. Within Nasdaq he previously held the position as Chief Legal Counsel and Senior Vice President of Nasdaq Group, Inc.

Mr. Billing has served as director of Federation of European Securities Exchanges, Swedish House of Finance and as an alternate director of the Swedish Corporate Governance Code Board of Directors. He holds a degree in Law from Stockholm University.

Marja Nykänen has been a Member of the Board of the Bank of Finland since 2017. Her areas of responsibilities include financial market issues, macroprudential policy and the risk control of investment activities and monetary policy. Marja Nykänen is the Chairman of the Board of the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority.

Maxime Alazet joined LFDE in 2010 after 4 years in New York as a consultant then as an assistant trader at SGCIB. He fulfilled his roles as a Third Party Distribution Sales then Sales Director, building relationships with Banks, Platforms, Family Offices and International Consultants. His achievements in this role and LFDE’s will to increase its presence globally led the way to his current position as International Institutional Sales Director.

Olivier Guersent graduated with distinction from the “Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux” in 1983. He joined the French Ministry of Economy and Finance in 1984, where he carried out many investigations for the French Competition Authority. He joined the European Commission in 1992, initially with the “Merger Task Force” in the Directorate-General for Competition. Since then, he has alternated between the private offices of a number of European Commissioners (Karel Van Miert, Michel Barnier and Neelie Kroes) and DG Competition (successively Deputy Head of Unit in charge of cartels, Head of Unit in charge of policy and coordination of cases, Head of Unit in charge of merger control, Acting Director “Transport, postal and other services” and, from 2009, Director responsible for the fight against cartels. From 2010 to 2014 he was the head of the private office of Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services. Having held the position of Deputy Director-General since July 2014, Olivier Guersent has been Director-General of the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union from 1 September 2015 to 31 December 2019. As of 1st January 2020 he is the Director General of the Directorate General for Competition. Married and a father of three children, Olivier Guersent is a member of the board of of the non-profit organisation Aremis that provides medical care in the home, primarily to cancer patients in the Brussels area. He is a regular lecturer to postgraduate university students.

Olivier Rousseau is executive director at Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR), France’s pension reserve fund, where he also chairs the asset manager selection committee. Before joining FRR in 2011, he was attached to the French Embassy in Sweden as an economic advisor, a position he took up after two years on the board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Rousseau began his career at the French Treasury, eventually joining BNP Paribas where he spent 11 years working in international banking and finance in Paris, Tokyo, London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney offices. He graduated from the French National School of Administration (ENA) in 1986. He also holds a degree in political sciences and master degrees in law and economics from the University of Aix-en-Provence.

Before joining Util, Patrick was Head of Business Development and Academic Research at Kensho, the leading provider of AI to sophisticated financial institutions. In 2018, Kensho was acquired by S&P in the world’s largest AI acquisition to date. Patrick joined Kensho from The Advisory Board Company.

Peter is the Head of Sustainability for Nordea Life & Pension, the asset owner arm of the Nordea Group. He has a leading role in the UN convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance where he is part of developing the frameworks and principles for net-zero alignment. Peter is a member of the Steering Committee in Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) and sits in the European Investor Committee for Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM). He is also a member of the Expert Advisory Group in Science Based Targets (SBTi) for Financial Institutions and a Board member of Protect Our Winters, a climate non-profit.

Rodolphe Bocquet leads Qontigo’s expansion of indexing and analytics in the ESG space as Global Head of Sustainable Investment. A pioneer and innovator in ESG investing, Rodolphe most recently served as an independent sustainability consultant working with a range of clients, including the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. In 2014, he co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of Beyond Ratings, a startup created to better integrate long-term sustainability drivers and their impact on investments. Beyond Ratings was acquired by the London Stock Exchange Group in May 2019.

Bocquet began his career in trading and risk management at Société Générale, but shifted his focus in 2001 to energy, climate and sustainability, holding positions with Carbone 4, AFTER, Agence Française de Développement, Conseil Régional d’Aquitaine, ADEME (Environment and Energy Management Agency), Eco-Carbone and other organizations.

Bocquet earned an MBA from HEC Paris, which included studies at the Stern Business School of New York University. He also holds a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Mines ParisTech ISIGE.

Sachin Vankalas is the General Manager of LuxFLAG – the Luxembourg Finance Labelling Agency which aims to promote the raising of capital in Sustainable Finance by awarding a recognisable labels to eligible investment products.

As a General Manager, Sachin leads the extended team of the agency and has executive oversight of the firm’s client and business areas, including strategy and resource management at LuxFLAG. In his function, he is also responsible for developing strategic objectives and ensuring their effective implementation. Sachin joined LuxFLAG in 2011 prior to which he worked for five years with a Swiss Asset Management firm and previously in an International Rating Agency.

Sachin is a recognised Sustainable Finance expert and is often consulted and referred on technical matters. He is a member of the HCPF, ALFI, LPEA and ABBL Technical Committees on Sustainable Finance, is adjunct faculty on Sustainable Finance at the University of Luxembourg, and active Board Member of International Climate Finance Accelerator (ICFA), Inclusive Finance Network (InFiNe), and European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP).

Sachin attended Harvard University & NYU Stern, completing executive programs in Finance and Sustainability, and holds an MSc in Banking and Finance from the Luxembourg School of Finance.

Slavka Eley joined the European Banking Authority in 2013 and currently leads the Banking Markets, Innovation and Products Unit, which is responsible for the EBA work on financial innovation, digital finance, capital market union and sustainable finance. As part of her current role, she leads the EBA project team on sustainable finance. She represents the EBA at European and international working groups, including the FSB Financial Innovation Network, the European Commission’s Platform on Sustainable Finance and Basel Committee’s Task Force on Climate Risk.

Over the last several years, she has chaired different working groups at the EBA such as Network on Sustainable Finance, Sub-group on Risk Assessment Systems, mandated to develop the common European supervisory framework, and the Sub-group on Supervisory Effectiveness and Convergence.

Prior to joining the EBA Slavka worked for the National Bank of Slovakia as the Head of Supervisory Division for Banks with Advanced Risk Management Approach responsible for supervision of all large banks in Slovakia.

She holds a MBA in general management from the City University of Seattle and a Master degree in Mathematics and Physics from the Comenius University Bratislava.

Sonja’s research work covers global debt and sovereign debt policy issues, financial stability risks, sustainable finance, and capital markets development in emerging and frontier markets. She oversees the IIF’s Weekly Insight, which offers a concise perspective on global financial markets in the context of topical economic and political developments, and the quarterly Global Debt Monitor, which looks across mature and emerging economies for debt-related vulnerabilities such as the rapid buildup in EM corporate debt levels. Sonja leads IIF policy work on sustainable finance and infrastructure investment, including advocacy and liaison efforts vis-à-vis the G20, the multilaterals and the international regulatory community.

Sonja has spent over 20 years in banking and financial markets, most recently with Nomura International in London, where she was Chief Equity Strategist. Previously she was Head of East European Economics and Senior European Bond Analyst, also for Nomura. Earlier positions included stints as a U.S. economist and bank credit analyst in New York and Los Angeles. She has taught undergraduate microeconomics at U.C. Berkeley, and spent several years with the Berkeley-Stanford Program on Soviet International Behavior. Sonja’s work is widely cited in the financial press, including Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times; she is a regular speaker at industry conferences and a frequent commentator for financial television and radio.

Sunil A. Misser (Sunny) is the Chief Executive Officer of AccountAbility. Prior to joining AccountAbility, Sunil was Global Managing Partner of the Sustainability Advisory Business at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Before that, he was Global Strategy Leader for PwC’s Assurance and Business Advisory Services — the firm’s accounting, risk  management, and consulting operation. He also served as the New York Metro leader for the Governance, Risk, and Compliance practice.

During his career, Sunil has been a strategic business advisor to CEOs and senior executives at Fortune 500 companies and multi-lateral organizations. Previously, Sunil worked in industry in operations and advanced manufacturing with Mars, Inc. and Honeywell.

Sven Gentner is the head of unit for asset management in the European Commission’s directorate-general for financial stability, financial services and capital markets union.

Sven joined the European Commission in 2004 and has served in various positions in its Brussels headquarters and abroad. From 2004-2006 he was responsible for the coordination of the EU-US Financial Markets Regulatory Dialogue, in 2006 he served as a member of the private office (cabinet) of the Commissioner responsible for the Internal Market, from 2007-2011 he was executive assistant to the director general of Directorate General Internal Market and Services with special responsibility for financial services. In 2011 he was seconded to the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa to advise the AUC on building an African internal market. From 2012 to 2013 he was head of unit for human resources and planning in DG Internal Market and Services. From 2013 to 2015, Sven was a counsellor in the Economic and Financial Affairs Section of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. He dealt with EU-US regulatory issues and TTIP negotiations in financial services.

Sven started his professional career in the private sector where he worked for an insurance company.

Sven holds masters degrees in economics from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, and the University of York, UK.

Sylvie Préa began her career at Societe Generale in 1985 working for SG CIB. She held a number of commercial positions in the fields of infrastructure financing, international trade and in the aeronautical sector. In 2003, Sylvie moved into Human Resources, firstly as Head of Human Resources for the Operations department of SG CIB and then taking up Human Resources responsibilities for the Group HR department in 2006. In 2009, she was appointed Head of Human Resources for Global Investment & Management Services (GIMS), then Global Head of Human Resources for Global Banking & Investor Solutions (GBIS). Sylvie was appointed Director of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the Group in January 2017 and is member of the Group Management Committee.

Sylvie holds a Masters degree in International Trade from the Sorbonne University.

Thibaut Ghirardi joined 2DII in March 2020 as Senior Manager for the Paris office team. He is in charge of the Finance ClimAct project, which aims to align the French and European action plans on sustainable finance and to strengthen France’s positioning on this topic.

Prior to joining 2DII, Thibaut was Manager in the Sustainable Development team of PwC France, in charge of Green Finance and Climate Change consultancy projects. Before that he was an ESG Analyst for Astorg, a private equity management company.

Thibaut graduated from AgroParisTech and holds a MSc in Sustainable Development from HEC Paris.

Tonia Plakhotniuk is an Associate Director at the Policy Division of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), representing the pan-European wholesale capital markets industry. Tonia leads AFME’s work programmes in Sustainable Finance and Financial Reporting helping to bring industry insights into the development of European policy in these thematic areas.

In the past, being a Certified Public Accountant in the US, Tonia worked for large public accounting and consulting firms for more than 8 years. She managed a wide spectrum of external assurance and consulting projects across both emerging and developed markets and is specialising primarily in banking and capital markets sector.

Torben Möger Pedersen (b. 1955) is CEO of PensionDanmark – one of the largest pension funds in Denmark established in 1993.

PensionDanmark manages defined contribution pension plans, health care plans and life-long training programs based on collective agreements covering more than 740,000 blue-collar workers employed in 24,000 companies within the private and public sector. Total assets under management are EUR 32 billion and growing rapidly. A substantially part of the portfolio is direct investments in renewable energy infrastructure assets and sustainable real estate. PensionDanmark has received a great number of Awards for its groundbreaking investment strategy.

Torben Möger Pedersen holds a number of board and investment committee memberships including Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Arbejdernes Landsbank, Danish Insurance Association, Copenhagen Infrastructure Fund I, II and III, Danish Climate Investment Fund, Danish Agribusiness Fund, Danish SDG Investment Fund, SDG High Level Advisory Board, Danish Society for Education and Business (DSEB) and Board Leadership Society in Denmark.

Torben Möger Pedersen is a member of OECDs Working Group on Long-Term Investments, the Private Sector Advisory Group within the UN’s Green Climate Fund, the Global Agenda Council on Investments in World Economic Forum, the Steering Committee of World Economic Forum’s Retirement Investment System Reform Project, the Advisory Board in OECD’s Centre on Green Finance and Investment and the UN Global Compacts Financial Innovation Action Platform.

Torben Möger Pedersen holds a M.Sc. Economics from University of Copenhagen and is adjunct professor at CBS.

Valentijn is Chief Investment Officer of NN Investment Partners and chairman of the Management Team Investments (MTI)

Valentijn has over 18 years of experience working in financial markets. Valentijn is also chair of NNIP’s Tactical Asset Allocation committee and the firm’s key spokesperson on the macro and market outlook. Therefore, he appears frequently at client events, seminars and in financial news media like CNN, CNBC, RTLZ, NOS, BNR, Bloomberg and Reuters or journals like the FT, FD, IPE, and other newswires and social media channels.

Victor van Hoorn is the Executive Director of Eurosif, the European Sustainable Investment Forum, the leading pan European Sustainable and Responsible Investment association advocating for a more sustainable financial system. It works as a partnership of European national Sustainable Investment Forums (SIFs). SIF members include institutional investors, asset managers, index providers and ESG research and analysis firms totalling over €8 trillion of assets under management, as well as other stakeholders such as NGOs, trade unions, think-tanks and philanthropic foundations. Eurosif is also a founding member of the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, the alliance of the largest SIFs around the world.

Prior to Eurosif, Victor was Head of Financial Services at Hume Brophy, a leading EU public affairs consultancy, advising asset managers and asset owners on their engagement with EU policymakers. In that role he closely followed the EU sustainable finance since its inception.

Victor is and attorney-at-law admitted to the New York and Amsterdam bar. He holds the French and Dutch citizenship.