Our Events

Yvonne is a Principal with Carne Global Financial Services Limited and CEO of Carne’s Irish business. Carne employs 180 people across 9 global locations and is a governance and substance provider for asset managers with $700 billion in Assets Under Management. Yvonne is currently Chair of Irish Funds Council, the official representative body for the Irish investment fund industry. She also acts as a Chairman and Director to traditional funds, hedge funds and management companies domiciled in Ireland and Cayman. Yvonne has over 25 years’ experience within the funds industry and is a specialist in governance, product development, compliance, financial reporting and operations. She also has experience in assisting fund managers and service providers with various aspects of operational development, control and risk management. She is a recognised expert in back office operations and change management and regularly speaks at fund industry conferences. Prior to joining Carne, Yvonne was Head of Operational Development at State Street (International) Ireland (formerly Deutsche Bank), where she looked after new business take on, product development, system implementation and change management. As a member of the senior management team at State Street, Yvonne reported directly to the CEO and was a key contributor to the overall strategy and direction of the business. Yvonne trained as a chartered accountant with KPMG, specialising in corporate taxation. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Yvonne is a member of multiple industry associations including Irish Funds, the Institute of Directors in Ireland, 100 Women in Finance and the 30% Club.

As an Associate Director within the financial services audit department of Grant Thornton, Sarah manages a portfolio of clients in the alternative investment management industry. She has over 10 years’ experience working with a range of global asset managers who have used Ireland as a location for the establishment and/or servicing of UCITS funds, hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, alternative investment funds and private equity funds.

Sarah has been involved with numerous industry working groups and currently sits on the Irish Funds Member Engagement Group. 

Michael McGrath holds the position of Assistant Secretary General, Funds, Insurance, Markets and Pensions Division, at the Department of Finance. He leads a team responsible for the development of domestic and EU/International policy and legislation in relation to the financial services sector, with the exception of the banking sector and manages the transposition of EU directives. The primary functions of this division relate to insurance and pensions, funds, financial markets and anti-money laundering policy.

Gerry Cross was appointed as Director of Financial Regulation - Policy and Risk in May 2015. He leads the Central Bank’s work on prudential and markets conduct regulatory policy and its supervisory risk framework (PRISM). Gerry is a member of the EBA Board of Supervisors and alternate member of the EIOPA Board of Supervisors. He co-chairs EBA’s Standing Committee on Regulation and Policy.

Gerry has had an extensive career in the area of financial services regulation. Before joining the Central Bank he worked at the European Commission, the UK Financial Services Authority, Fortis Group, the Institute of International Finance, and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.

Patricia is a Partner in William Fry’s Asset Management & Investment Funds Department. Her practice focuses on the establishment of Irish-domiciled investment funds of all kinds including "long only" funds, derivative funds, hedge funds and funds of hedge funds, multi-manager funds and exchange traded funds. She also advises the promoters of, and service providers to, investment funds including asset managers, fund administrators and trustees/custodians.

Patricia is a member of the Irish Funds Industry Association Legal and Regulatory Committee, the Legislative Sub-Committee of the IFSC Funds Group, a group established under the aegis of the Taoiseach's (Irish Prime Minister's) Department and the Company Law Review Group, a statutory advisory expert body charged with advising the Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment on the review and development of company law in Ireland.

Sven is Senior Vice President and EMEA Head of Regulatory, Industry and Government Affairs at State Street Corporation. He is responsible for European regulatory and government relations as well as policy development across all of State Street’s businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). As part of his role, he monitors policy, legislative and regulatory developments in the EMEA region, provides updates and analyses and engages with stakeholders on issues of importance to State Street and its clients.

His team also manages State Street’s pan-European regulatory change program which coordinates impact assessments of key EU regulatory initiatives and supports relevant implementation work across the firm.

On behalf of State Street, Sven also actively participates in and engages with relevant industry associations.

In addition, Sven leads State Street’s corporate-wide Brexit program which coordinates the creation and execution of the organisation’s Brexit plans bringing together senior representatives from all business units and functions.

Prior to taking up his role at State Street in April 2010, Sven was Head of EU Public Affairs, Funds at Prudential plc in London representing the company’s position in asset management related issues. Sven started his career at UBS both in Zurich and in London where he was Associate Director for European Government Affairs.

He graduated from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland from which he also holds a doctorate in International Affairs. A German national, Sven is married and father of one daughter.

Umar Ahmed joined Irish Funds in May 2019 and is the Association’s Head of EU Affairs. Based in Brussels, Umar leads engagement with EU Institutions, regulatory authorities and stakeholders in the public policy universe. He is an experienced government and regulatory affairs professional with a strong background in financial services and experience across Europe and the US. Prior to joining the association, Umar was with BNY Mellon’s US Government Affairs & Public Policy team in New York and led US State and Local Government Affairs activity for the bank. He previously was with BNY Mellon’s EMEA External Affairs team in London and led advocacy and external engagement with EU officials, legislators and the diplomatic community in EMEA. He began his career in EU financial services consultancy in Brussels, working for Hume Brophy.

Nicholas is based in Walkers' Ireland office where he is a partner and head of the Investment Funds group in Ireland.

Nicholas has in excess of 17 years' experience in the area of asset management and investment funds and has worked in both legal and finance related positions during this time. Nicholas has extensive experience advising funds, promoters and service providers on a wide range of asset management and investment fund related matters, including on the establishment, authorisation and operation of all types of Irish investment funds including UCITS, QIAIFs, RIAIFs, fund of funds, ETF's, master-feeder structures and closed-ended funds. Nicholas has experience advising across a wide range of asset classes and investment strategies including hedge fund, private equity and real estate strategies as well as more traditional liquid investment strategies, with particular expertise in advising managers of fixed income and debt focused investment strategies.

Nicholas also has extensive experience advising on cross-border asset management and investment fund related matters and has previously advised on the establishment of investment fund platforms involving funds in jurisdictions outside of Ireland, including parallel investment fund structures.

Nicholas has participated in various industry association working groups and committees (including those at the Investment Association, ICI Global and EFAMA) and has attended meetings at ESMA in Paris in order to provide technical guidance on investment fund related matters. Nicholas has previously been a member of the UCITS Product and Brexit Steering Groups at Irish Funds and currently sits on the AIF Innovation and Regulatory Working Group. Nicholas has spoken at a wide range of investment fund conferences and currently lectures on the Certified Investment Fund Director Institute programme which is delivered in London, Zurich and New York.

Nicholas holds a degree in Business and Legal Studies (BBLS) from University College Dublin and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from London Business School.

Andrew is Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Pricoa Capital Group (Ireland) Limited (“PCGI”). Based in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland, the company was launched in 2019 to help continue the funds and private placements business of PGIM Private Capital. PGCI has responsibility for PGIM Private Capital’s offices in Paris, Frankfurt and Milan as well as for the management of a subset of its mezzanine funds.

Prior to taking up his current position, Andrew was based in Chicago and served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative officer for PGIM Capital Partners, which has for nearly 20 years managed a series of mezzanine funds and mezzanine investing initiatives.

Andrew first joined Prudential Financial, Inc. in 1997, and prior to that had worked in commercial banking, specializing in restructurings as well as middle market lending and highly leveraged transactions. He holds a degree in economics from Claremont McKenna College and graduated magna cum laude.   

Gayle is a head of the Irish Asset Management and Investment Funds Group of Pinsent Masons, an international law firm with 24 offices across 4 continents. She has over 16 years' experience advising prominent international asset managers in relation to all aspects of Irish regulated UCITS and alternative products and has a particular expertise in relation to cross border mergers. She advised on the first re-domiciliation of a Jersey fund into Ireland and on the cross border merger of two money market fund platforms, which was one of the first mergers effected under the UCITS IV procedures and was one of the largest European cross-border fund mergers. Gayle also provides AIFMD advice to offshore managers looking to sell into Europe. Gayle is the outgoing Chair of the Irish Funds Legal & Regulatory Committee and sits on the Irish Funds Brexit Steering Group, which liaises with the Central Bank, the Irish Government and European bodies to represent the interests of the Irish funds industry. Gayle holds a master's degree from Oxford University.

Dr Grace Lordan is an associate professor in behavioural science at the London School of Economics. She is an economist by background, and her research is focused on understanding why some individuals succeed over others because of factors beyond their control. In this regard, she has expertise on the effects of unconscious bias, discrimination and technology changes. Grace is also interested in using the techniques of behavioural science to design interventions for firms to promote good investment decisions, good conduct, diversity and inclusion and curb biases that creep into high stakes decision making. In this respect, Grace is focused on helping firms understand ‘what works’ at a local level so that they are certain they are rolling out interventions that have a positive NPV. Grace has advised and given talks to large investment banks, private equity firms, hedge funds and international conferences on these topics. Grace has also led projects to advise commissioners in the UK and policy makers in the EC. At the LSE Grace trains executives through her teaching on two courses – corporate behaviour and decision making and behavioural science for leaders. 

Killian Buckley is an independent director and strategic advisor to the investment management industry, having founded Martello Advisory in November 2019. Killian previously acted as a Managing Director in the Compliance and Regulatory Consulting unit, as well as Head of Management Company Solutions at Duff & Phelps, responsible for the global ManCo services out of Ireland and Luxembourg, having established the Kinetic Partners Irish office in 2005. This followed a period in corporate finance and listing with Davy in Dublin. Killian has acted as Director, Designated Person and MLRO for some of the largest global asset management firms’ products in Ireland and Luxembourg. 

Eve is the LGIM’s Managing Director in Ireland, appointed in October 2017 and is responsible for the overall leadership and management of LGIM’s Irish office and European entities based in Dublin.

Eve was previously Head of Solutions based in London. In her Head of Solutions role, Eve has been responsible for the design and management of objective driven investment solutions which bring together the best of the LGIM Group’s investment capabilities to meet our clients’ needs.

Previously, Eve was Head of LDI Portfolio Construction and had overall responsibility for the structuring and portfolio management of the LGIM Group’s UK and European LDI portfolios. Eve joined LGIM in 2009 and is a Trustee of both the Legal and General Group Pension Scheme and the Pension Fund.

Prior to joining the LGIM Group, Eve worked in the Global Pensions Strategy Group at Deutsche Bank developing liability management solutions and multi-asset strategies for a variety of global pension schemes.

Eve began her career as an investment consultant at Watson Wyatt. Eve has a first class honours degree in financial and actuarial mathematics from Dublin City University and is a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.

Rose is a Director in Deloitte’s Risk Advisory Department with over 15 years experience working in financial services. Rose specialises in regulatory advisory in all aspects of financial services regulation advising a wide range of both domestic and international financial institutions, including credit institutions, investment firms, payment institutions and insurance companies. Rose has extensive experience engaging directly with Irish, UK and other European regulators.

Prior to joining Deloitte, Rose worked for KBC Bank where she held various positions across Internal Audit, Compliance and Regulatory Affairs functions. Rose was the primary point of contact for the Bank in all aspects of conduct and prudential regulatory liaison in the UK, Ireland and Belgium. Prior to joining KBC, Rose Marie spent 5 years working in KPMG’s Financial Services Assurance and Advisory Practice.

Rose is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (“FCA”) and holds a Bachelor degree in Commerce from UCD. She is a Licentiate of the Association of Compliance Officers in Ireland (“LCOI”) and holds a Diploma in Forensic Accounting with Chartered Accountants of Ireland. Rose is the Chair of the Association of Compliance Officers Ireland (“ACOI”) Prudential Regulation and Governance Working Group and a member of both the ACOI Technical Committee and ACOI Reg-tech/Fintech Working Group. 

Amarjit is a Partner at EY, leading EY’s extended assurance offerings in Wealth & Asset Management sector. He has worked with a wide range of clients from global asset managers and their funds through to investment trusts, private equity houses and hedge fund managers on variety of assignments from traditional audits to internal control reviews as well as s39/s166 FSA/FCA engagements. He spent four years in various roles at J.P. Morgan Asset Management before rejoining EY as a partner in 2008.

Currently he is responsible for a number of Ernst & Young’s largest wealth and asset management clients and also provides regulatory assistance especially advising asset and wealth managers on CASS, MiFID II, CRD IV, Suitability and Solvency II. He chairs the ICAEW’s Investment Management Committee and represents EY at the FRC and FCA on CASS matters.

Amarjit is an active supporter of the Diversity & Inclusiveness programme at EY and is the chair of the EY Sikh Network. He leads our engagement with clients on their D&I initiatives in the Financial Services industry.

Mary O’Dea is Chief Executive of the Institute of Banking. Mary joined the Institute in April 2018 from the Central Bank of Ireland where she was Director of Securities and Markets Supervision. Prior to that she spent six years in Washington DC, first as Alternative Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund and then as Ireland’s representative at the World Bank. Mary previously held several Director roles with the Central Bank of Ireland, including Director of Financial Operations and Consumer Director. In 2009, she was Acting Chief Executive of the Financial Regulator. 

Throughout her career at the Central Bank, Mary held senior leadership positions across central banking (central bank payments and settlements, central bank investment portfolio), regulator (stockbroking, investment funds, banking), consumer protection (consumer protection codes and consumer information) and economics (economic forecasting).

Mary is a Non-Executive Director of Euronext Dublin.

Mary is passionate about leadership and teams, using a coaching style of leadership and building trust to unlock potential in others. She is a high energy, authentic leader who enjoys inspiring others and being inspired by them.

Dani is Head of our Cyber Security practice. She previously led the Cyber Security and Emerging Technology Risk Practices for KPMG Malaysia and ASPAC region. Dani also led KPMG’s global IoT working group. Dani has worked with government agencies on national cyber security strategies and with international regulatory bodies on cyber risk agenda and regulatory landscape. She has extensive experience of working with clients on improving board understanding of cyber security matters and building up cyber security teams in her acting CISO roles for telecommunications and power companies in Asia. She is an advocate for inclusion & diversity, and women participation in computer science and cyber degrees.

Priya Nair is responsible for the product development and management of services delivered to Private Equity, Debt, Infrastructure and Real Estate fund sponsor clients. Prior to assuming this role, Priya held a number of senior positions within Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) including the Head of European Infrastructure and Structured Debt Capital Markets, and Global Head of Credit financing and Structured Solutions within RBC Capital Markets.

Priya joined RBC in 2008, having been at Citigroup and Deutsche Bank working in Global Credit Derivatives and Structured Products.

She has a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and Genetics from Trinity College, University of Dublin

Tania is Global Head of Business for Private Assets and hasjoined HSBC in 2018.

Tania has over twenty years of international experience in financial markets, predominantly in sales-oriented roles. She started her career in New York as a portfolio manager for AGF Braseg, the Brazilian arm of the French insurer AGF-Allianz. From there, Tania moved to BNP Paribas, first to the Investment Bank and then on to BNP Paribas Securities Services, spending 17 years in total at the French bank. For the last 6 years of her career at BNP, Tania led the Alternative sales effort in the UK, with a specific focus on Private Assets and Debt in particular. During this time she developed a strong knowledge of the Private Asset’s product offering and ecosystem.

Tania is a multi-lingual (French, German, Portuguese and Italian) team player and experienced in establishing and executing business and sales plans. She holds a B.S. Economics and M.S. Strategy and Marketing from the University of Economics and Business Administration, Paris IX, Dauphine, France.

James Bermingham is General Counsel of Sanne Group plc. His professional background is as an English solicitor and a Luxembourg avocat and has worked in the funds’ industry for many years. His experience covers all aspects of alternative investment fund and acquisition structuring in leading international financial centres, which are topics that he has spoken and written on extensively. James’ particular focus has been private equity.

Michael is a Director at Davy's London office with experience spanning regulated funds, private equity, banking, treasury, and taxation, and asset classes including renewable energy and real estate. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a Chartered Accountant and a taxation expert and has implemented a wide range of transaction structures with and on behalf of institutions, corporations and high net worth clients. Michael is currently principally involved in assisting asset managers and their legal advisors in relation to EU regulated funds and deals mainly with UK and US managers wishing to set up new funds, to more efficiently manage existing funds, or to raise capital from EU investors. The funds themselves are typically established in Ireland, the UK or Luxembourg and include private equity, real estate, infrastructure, loan origination and hedge funds and other alternative funds.

Ken is PwC Ireland’s Asset and Wealth Management Advisory Leader.

Ken has been a Partner in the Asset Management Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2001 and has been with PwC for 28 years.

During a 17 year career as partner Ken worked with a range of global asset managers who were using Ireland as a location for the establishment and/or servicing of UCITS funds, hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, ETFs, money market funds, private equity funds.

Ken is involved with numerous industry working groups and technical committees and currently chairs the Irish Funds (Industry Association) Brexit Steering Group. 

Educated at the University of Glasgow and Merton College, Oxford, Alan Sked took his D.Phil. in Modern History under the supervision of A.J.P. Taylor. In 1972 he was appointed to the International History Department of LSE where he spent his whole academic career before retiring in 2015 to become a full-time carer for his elderly mother in the remote Scottish Highlands. He returned to London two years ago after her death.

Academically Sked is a world authority on the Habsburg Empire but has also produced three books on the history of modern Britain. He also taught American and intellectual history at LSE while concentrating on European history. From 1980-1990 he was head of the master’s programme in European Studies which he built up to the largest of any in UK universities.

Politically, in his younger years he was active in the Scottish Liberal Party and embraced European federalism. However, after ten years presiding over European Studies at LSE he became an arch Eurosceptic, co-founding the Bruges Group in 1989 before founding the Anti-Federalist League in 1991 which changed its name to UKIP in 1993. He led the party till 1997.

Today he comments on political events, writes historical articles and is thinking of writing more books. He is not a member of any political party. (He left UKIP in 1997.)’

Simon Osborn is CEO and Editor in Chief of IFI Global Ltd. IFI Global is a fund management research and media business, based in the City of London, focusing primarily on the alternative side of the industry.

IFI Global publishes The NED, a monthly publication on fund governance, ADI, which focuses on domiciliation, fund servicing and tax matters and The Tracker which follows the effect of regulatory change on the asset management business. The Tracker also focuses on the impact of Brexit on the industry.

IFI Global also undertakes research studies and hosts events on matters related to fund governance, domiciliation and structural change in the alternative fund industry.

Prior to launching IFI Global Simon Osborn was an Associate Director of the International Herald Tribune (IHT), based in Paris, where he was responsible for the development of the IHT’s asset management coverage. Before joining the IHT he was with HZI International, a media consultancy that specialised in advising and investing in business, financial and medical publications in the developing world.

Simon Osborn is a graduate of the London School of Economics. He was awarded the Bassett prize for the top degree in the LSE’s Government Department. He has a joint degree in Government and Economics.

Simon Osborn is married with two children. He divides his time between the UK and the US. 

Karoline Keane acts on the investments side for Man Asset Management (Ireland) covering AIFs and UCITS spanning discretionary, systematic and private markets asset classes. Karoline also advises on product structuring and development for Man’s private markets and tailored solutions businesses and leads client implementation. Prior to Man, Karoline worked for Citibank Europe plc and The Children’s Investment Fund. Karoline is also a Lecturer for the Institute of Bankers for Legal and Regulatory Aspects of Applied Alternative Investments. She is an active member of various industry groups and is currently a Chair of the AIMA Ireland Steering Group.

Michael Howell is CEO of CrossBorder Capital, a London-based independent research firm that he founded in 1996. Previously he was Head of Research for Baring Securities and Research Director of Salomon Brothers, the US investment bank. The liquidity methodology he pioneered monitors Central Bank behaviour in over 70 countries world-wide on a monthly basis. Liquidity flows are a central part of CrossBorder Capital’s asset allocation advice, which is currently provided to around 100 major global investors, including institutional asset managers, government agencies, Central Banks and endowment funds. CrossBorder Capital is also the investment advisor to the Solar (hedge fund of funds) and the Pulsar Funds (quant based funds using ETFs). Michael has been in financial markets since 1981 and is a regular conference speaker and media commentator. He graduated from Bristol and London Universities, and lives in Oxford with his family.

Stephanie Lermusiaux is Head of Funds and ETFs Services at Euroclear. The Funds and ETFs Services business represents approximately €2.5 trillion of assets across the Euroclear group.

The Funds and ETFs business unit offers a gateway to the largest European and offshore investment fund markets with 30 domiciles. The International ETFs structure has been developed in order to offer a more efficient European ETF market, including a global distribution network with improved access to the world’s exchanges.

In this capacity, the fundamental role of Stephanie’s business unit is to support the Funds industry development, facilitating the issuer/investor interaction through a resilient and secure infrastructure providing operational excellence in all markets it operates and supporting the local Funds industry development.

Local markets success is predicated on their ability to secure flows and investments through a robust and trusted network.

Stephanie has also held a number of other positions within Euroclear in Product Management and IT Management. In previous functions, she led the development of data management infrastructures and the creation of data products.

Stephanie has a Master’s degree from Brussels University and has completed an MBA at Solvay Business School.

“As Head of Funds and ETFs Services at Euroclear, I actively work at reinforcing and broadening global access to secure, resilient and cost efficient environment to both investors and issuers in the Funds and ETFs industry.¨

Stuart Alexander is Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Gemini Investment Management Ltd, authorised and regulated by the FCA, which commenced business in 2009. He is also a Director of Gemini Capital Management (Ireland) Ltd (GemCap) which in 2016 was incorporated in Ireland and approved as a UCITS Management Company (ManCo) by the CBI. He has over 30 years’ experience in the fund management industry and previously was Managing Director, Close Investments (2005-2007), HBOS’s Asset Management, Director (2001–2005), Invesco Fund Managers Ltd, Sales Director (1996–2001), Singer & Friedlander Investment Management Ltd, Director (1992-1996), Morgan Grenfell (1988–1992) and Gartmore (1986–1988). During his career Stuart has successfully launched a number of businesses in the asset management industry and has overseen the growth of many of these businesses in the UK and Globally.

Ian joined Integrafin in April 1999, becoming Chief Executive Officer in April 2002, having previously been Executive Director and General Manager.

Previous experience includes:

AIB Govett Asset Management – Marketing Director (1992 to 1999)

Royal Life Holdings Group – Marketing Development Manager (1990 to 1992), Business Planning Manager (1988 to 1990).

Ian holds an MA in English from Peterhouse College, University of Cambridge.

Richard is one of the UKs best known Multi-Manager investors and has previously been AA rated by OBSR, Citywire and S&P. Before joining Wellian, Richard was formerly the Chief Investment Officer at AXA Architas Multi-Manager where he helped them to grow with assets of over £7bn, and before that he was Head of Multi-Manager at F&C Investments where he launched the LifeStyle range of funds and grew assets to over £1bn during his tenure.

Victoria joined Square Mile in April 2014 as a senior investment analyst and subsequently held the role of Head of Research. Victoria is a member of the Executive Management Team which provides input into the strategic direction on the business and is responsible for the long term strategy and direction of research and consulting within Square Mile. In addition, Victoria heads up the fixed income research, helps with the absolute return fund research and looks after a number of our consulting clients. Victoria previously worked at Brewin Dolphin, Rothschild Private Bank and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers Victoria holds a BA (Hons) in Economics with French from the University of Durham, the IMC, CAIA and is a CFA chartholder.

Bella has 20 years’ experience in the research and analysis of the UK, European and Asian fund management industries. In 2010, she established Fundscape, a research house specialising in the end-to-end analysis of the UK fund industry. Fundscape is the publisher of the Platform Report, widely regarded as the platform industry’s official data source.

Prior to setting up Fundscape in 2010, she worked for Lipper as Global Head of Research and Publications and was the author of numerous publications and reports including the popular European and Asian Data Digests, the Fund Market Profile report series and the UK Platform guide. Early in her career Bella worked in investment banking and then a London-based consulting firm where she specialised in market entry strategies for retail and institutional asset managers.

Bella has a master’s degree in International Business and is fluent in four languages. She is married with two grown-up children, fussy about grammar and punctuation, loves literature, the theatre, disco dancing and pub quizzes.   

Brian is a partner in the asset management department of the law firm Dillon Eustace. Brian advises on the structuring, establishment and operation of all type of investment funds (UCITS and AIFs). He also advises on the establishment and operation of fund service providers including UCITS management companies and AIFMs. Brian is a former member of the Council of Irish Funds and Chair of its Legal and Regulatory Working Group. He is a regular contributor to industry journals and international fund events.

Michelle McGrath is a Director in Lazard Asset Management. She joined as Head of Legal for the Irish office of Lazard in September 2014. Michelle has responsibility for Lazard Fund Managers (Ireland) Limited, being the Irish UCITS Management Company; the umbrella Irish UCITS funds; and the European branch offices of the Management Company.

Prior to joining Lazard, Michelle was a Senior Associate Solicitor within the Asset Management & Investment Funds Department at William Fry and was admitted to the Role of Solicitors with the Law Society of Ireland in 2005.

John's practice is focused on representing asset managers and their affiliates

on regulatory, compliance and transactional matters. John represents U.S.

and non-U.S. investment advisers as well as mutual funds, hedge funds, real

estate funds, bank-managed collective investment funds, private equity funds

and venture capital funds. He also represents the independent directors to

mutual funds. He regularly interfaces with U.S. regulators on a broad range

of matters, including exemptive order applications, no-action letters,

registration statements and examination inquiries.

John has significant experience with onshore and offshore money market

funds and other types of cash management products. He negotiates on behalf

of his clients’ derivatives (ISDA), securities lending and repurchase

agreement documentation, as well as custody and distribution arrangements.

He also assists asset managers and fund sponsors in organizing and

operating U.S. and non-U.S. collective investment vehicles, including

registered/publicly offered mutual funds, commodity pools and hedge funds

organized in the Luxembourg, Ireland, Australia, the Cayman Islands,

Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and many other offshore jurisdictions.

Over his career, John has interacted extensively with non-U.S. regulators.

John has practiced corporate law with other national firms in Boston and San

Francisco. Prior to that he was the general counsel and chief compliance

officer of IXIS Asset Management Global Associates (now Natixis Global

Associates) and was responsible for all legal and compliance matters of that

firm’s investment advisers, investment funds and distribution companies

organized in Luxembourg, Ireland and Australia, as well as its subsidiaries

and branches located in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Mr Hooper was formerly a Managing Director at Allianz Global Investors and a Director of Henderson Global Investors. Mr Hooper previously served on the Global Executive of RCM, the active equity management company of Allianz Global Investors, and chaired the Global Operations Committee setting the operations strategy with accountability for the oversight of all legal, compliance and risk issues impacting RCM globally. Prior to his time at Allianz, Mr Hooper acted as Head of Compliance at Henderson Global Investors. As highlighted herein, in a career spanning 30 years, Mr Hooper has been a compliance officer/MLRO (both at Henderson Global Investors and Allianz Global Investors), head of operational risk, director and chief executive of UCITS management companies in the Allianz Global Investors business in the UK. Mr Hooper is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has also served on many UCITS and AIF boards in Ireland, UK, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands. Mr Hooper has completed the General Management Program at Harvard Business School and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Paul Hollingsworth is a senior European Economist and is in charge of UK economics research at BNP Paribas, based in London. As well as following macroeconomic developments, Paul has a keen focus on the Brexit process. He engages with a wide range of clients on a regular basis through meetings, conference calls and formal presentations, as well as contributing to BNP Paribas’ Global Markets research. Prior to joining BNP Paribas in May 2018, Paul was Senior UK Economist at Capital Economics. He has also worked at HM Treasury in London in the Macroeconomic Analysis division. Paul holds a Masters in Economic History from the London School of Economics.

James Thornton is a lawyer, environmentalist, Zen Buddhist priest, author, Yale alumnus and founder of Europe’s most innovative environmental group. When aged just 26 James successfully forced the Reagan government to stop companies polluting US rivers. This achievement was one among many during 20 years of successfully taking legal cases against corporations and governments in the US to protect the environment. Among other pioneering work in the US, he worked with Hollywood philanthropists and lawmakers to set up the Los Angeles office of the Natural Resources Defense Counsel (NRDC).

In 2008 James brought this pioneering approach to Europe and founded ClientEarth. Since then he and his team of lawyers have brought cases throughout Europe on behalf of their one client: the Earth. They’ve taken the UK government to court and won (three times) over air pollution; prevented the destruction of Europe’s last primeval forest; stopped 30 new mega-polluting coal power plants from opening in Poland; and forced a ban on diesel cars in German cities. James and the new ClientEarth office in Beijing work with China’s Supreme People’s Court to strengthen environmental enforcement.

James has received a lifetime achievement award from the Financial Times, twice been named Leader of the Year by Business Green and named ‘One of ten people who could change the world’ by the New Statesman. Even more than changing our world, for James it is about changing the way we treat it. 

Laura Heuston is a Co-Founder of SustainabilityWorks, a boutique sustainability consulting firm that offers a unique blend of skills and experience across sustainability. SustainabilityWorks advises on a broad range of topics, including corporate sustainability strategies, staff engagement programmes on sustainability and sustainable finance consulting. While in KPMG and Airtricity, she specialised in working with corporates and asset managers in the renewable energy and energy efficiency finance sectors, advising on transaction structures for national and international mergers, acquisitions, disposals, fundraising and other transactions. Over a span of 20 years she witnessed the mainstreaming of renewable energy globally, the evolution of renewable energy developers into renewable energy fund managers and the emergence of specialist energy efficiency financiers. She has more recently focussed on the broader topic of sustainable finance and advises and speaks on a variety of topics, with a particular specialism in responsible investment, impact investment, renewable energy finance and energy efficiency finance. As a Chartered Tax Adviser, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ireland and having completed a law degree, she has a broad span of professional experience. 

Martina is a member of ILIM’s Leadership team and has overall responsibility for ILIM’s European partnerships, working with strategic clients and internal stakeholders to ensure that ILIM’s range of services is aligned with and delivered to client needs.

Prior to her current role, Martina was responsible for establishing and coordinating ILIM’s broader international client relationships, contributing to the success and growth of the business. Before this she was responsible for the management of and service delivery to ILIM’s largest domestic business relationships, working with a range of clients including pension schemes,corporate and other institutional clients.

Martina is closely involved in the development and coordination of ILIM’s Responsible Investment activities and sits on the Responsible Investment Governance Committee. Additionally she sits on a number of ESG steering committees within the industry.

Before joining ILIM in 2004, Martina spent a number of years at DWS/Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and Milan, where she was responsible for U.S. equities trading and FX trading.

Martina holds an honours degree in International Commerce from University College Dublin, and received the CFA Charter in 2004.

Stefano Montobbio is Head of Research and Investment Governance at EFG AM. He’s based in Switzerland and, among other things, directly oversees EFGAM ESG research, engagement activities and integration into investment process. Stefano is active in the ESG space since 2008 when he started developing the ESG concept and analysis framework for BSI Bank. In addition to ESG investing he coordinated the Investment Process and was voting member of the Group Investment Committee. He teaches Sustainable Finance at USI-CSVN CAS Private Banking – Wealth Management” and previously chaired the “Private Wealth” workgroup of Swiss Sustainable Finance. Stefano regularly gives lectures and speaks on ESG investing and sustainable finance. He graduated in Economics and holds a Certificate on Advanced Studies in Asset Management from Swiss Finance Institute-University of Bern and an ESRA Environmental and Social Risk Analysis Certificate.

Marie Dzanis is the senior managing executive for EMEA. She has responsibility for overseeing the governance, operations, business development and talent of Northern Trust Asset Management.

Marie is on the boards of Northern Trust Global Funds, PLC; Northern Trust Funds Managers (Ireland) Limited, Northern Trust Investment Funds, Northern Trust Securities Inc. She serves on the Northern Trust Asset Management Executive Committee, and the Northern Trust EMEA Executive Committee.

Prior to joining Northern Trust in 2011, she held executive and leadership positions at iShares/Blackrock, JPMorgan Asset Management and Smith Barney. Marie’s comprehensive business acumen is demonstrated by having successfully managed multiple channels and the profitable growth of several lines of business in the institutional, intermediary and wealth channels. Her multifacted career began as a financial advisor and subsequently includes experience in securities lending and trading, product development, product sales, sales management and branch management.

As a recognized industry leader with more than 25 years of investment management experience, Marie has been awarded a top "Women To Watch" award from Investment News in 2017 and “Top Women in Asset Management” award by Money Management Executive in May 2015. In addition, she is on the women’s board of the University of Chicago Cancer Foundation, involved in Women in ETFs, is on the Advisory Board for BlinkNow Foundation and is a producer for the Maggie Doyne documentary called “Love Letters to my Children.”

Pat Lardner joined Irish Funds as Chief Executive in April 2012. He has over twenty five years’ experience in the global asset management industry and has held executive/leadership positions in Ireland and overseas with firms managing a broad range of both traditional and alternative investment strategies. Pat is an active participant on all significant Government sponsored groups relating to funds in Ireland, is a member of the Board of the European Fund and Asset Management Association and is an Advisor to the Asset Management Association of China’s International Partners Committee. He is a past Council Member of the Irish Association of Pension Funds and a former Director of both the Irish Association of Investment Managers and the International Investment Funds Association. He attained honours undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from University College Dublin.