Helena Morrissey CBE

Helena joined Newton in 1994 as a fixed income fund manager and was appointed CEO in 2001. During her time running Newton's bond funds she was twice-winner of Investment Week's Global Bond Fund Manager of the year.

Helena is involved in many aspects of the UK fund management industry and was named the Financial News 'Most Influential Woman in European Asset Management' in 2010. She was the first female director of the UK's Investment Management Association, serving from 2005 till 2012. She represents the investment industry on the FSA's Practitioner Panel, a statutory body providing input to the regulators from practitioners' perspectives . She is a member of the University of Cambridge Endowment Investment Board and chairman of the Eve Appeal, which funds research into gynaecological cancers.

In 2010, Helena founded the 30% Club, a cross-business initiative aimed at achieving 30% women on UK corporate boards by 2015 through voluntary, business-led change. She was appointed CBE in the 2012 New Year's Honours list.

A Cambridge philosophy graduate, she began her career as a global bond analyst with Schroders in New York. She is married with nine children.

Edward Bonham Carter joined Jupiter in 1994. He is Jupiter Fund Management plc's Group Chief Executive and, until February 2010, was also Chief Investment Officer. Edward started his career in the early 1980s at Schroder Investment Management analysing UK and US equities. In 1986, he joined Electra Investment where he successfully managed quoted portfolio accounting for some 30% of the trust's assets. In 1994 he joined Jupiter with a brief to manage high performance funds invested in the UK stock market. Edward gained a degree in Economics and Politics from Manchester University.

Keith has been our Chief Executive since 2004 and has responsibility for overseeing the £158bn of assets managed at Standard Life Investments. He has been a Director since joining in 1999 as our Chief Investment Officer, and has also been on the Board of Standard Life plc since 2006.

Prior to that, from 1980 to 1999, Keith was with James Capel (HSBC Securities from 1996) where his previous roles included; 1998 Managing Director of International Equities, 1993 Director of Economics and Strategy, 1984 Chief Economist and in 1980 International Economist. Keith started his career in 1979 at the Government Economic Service.

Keith has held a number of key industry appointments and responsibilities. He is a board member of the Financial Reporting Council, Investment Management Association and a member of the Advisory Board of Reform Scotland. In June 2011 he was also appointed to the Advisory Council of the Institutional Investor Committee. He stepped down as Chairman of ABI Investment Committee in August 2010 having completed three years in office.

Immediately prior to this Keith contributed to the industry through a number of channels including; (2007) Director Association of British Insurers, Chairman IMA Asset Management Committee and the Chancellor's Working Group on Rights Issues, and (2006) FSA Senior Practitioner Panel.

Keith was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration from Teesside University in 2011. This was in recognition of his contribution to the financial services industry over many years, most notably in the wake of the global financial crisis where he worked with government and trade bodies in establishing best practice in stewardship and governance.

Helena Morrissey CBE

Helena joined Newton in 1994 as a fixed income fund manager and was appointed CEO in 2001. During her time running Newton's bond funds she was twice-winner of Investment Week's Global Bond Fund Manager of the year.

Helena is involved in many aspects of the UK fund management industry and was named the Financial News 'Most Influential Woman in European Asset Management' in 2010. She was the first female director of the UK's Investment Management Association, serving from 2005 till 2012. She represents the investment industry on the FSA's Practitioner Panel, a statutory body providing input to the regulators from practitioners' perspectives . She is a member of the University of Cambridge Endowment Investment Board and chairman of the Eve Appeal, which funds research into gynaecological cancers.

In 2010, Helena founded the 30% Club, a cross-business initiative aimed at achieving 30% women on UK corporate boards by 2015 through voluntary, business-led change. She was appointed CBE in the 2012 New Year's Honours list.

A Cambridge philosophy graduate, she began her career as a global bond analyst with Schroders in New York. She is married with nine children.

Edward Bonham Carter joined Jupiter in 1994. He is Jupiter Fund Management plc's Group Chief Executive and, until February 2010, was also Chief Investment Officer. Edward started his career in the early 1980s at Schroder Investment Management analysing UK and US equities. In 1986, he joined Electra Investment where he successfully managed quoted portfolio accounting for some 30% of the trust's assets. In 1994 he joined Jupiter with a brief to manage high performance funds invested in the UK stock market. Edward gained a degree in Economics and Politics from Manchester University.

Keith has been our Chief Executive since 2004 and has responsibility for overseeing the £158bn of assets managed at Standard Life Investments. He has been a Director since joining in 1999 as our Chief Investment Officer, and has also been on the Board of Standard Life plc since 2006.

Prior to that, from 1980 to 1999, Keith was with James Capel (HSBC Securities from 1996) where his previous roles included; 1998 Managing Director of International Equities, 1993 Director of Economics and Strategy, 1984 Chief Economist and in 1980 International Economist. Keith started his career in 1979 at the Government Economic Service.

Keith has held a number of key industry appointments and responsibilities. He is a board member of the Financial Reporting Council, Investment Management Association and a member of the Advisory Board of Reform Scotland. In June 2011 he was also appointed to the Advisory Council of the Institutional Investor Committee. He stepped down as Chairman of ABI Investment Committee in August 2010 having completed three years in office.

Immediately prior to this Keith contributed to the industry through a number of channels including; (2007) Director Association of British Insurers, Chairman IMA Asset Management Committee and the Chancellor's Working Group on Rights Issues, and (2006) FSA Senior Practitioner Panel.

Keith was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration from Teesside University in 2011. This was in recognition of his contribution to the financial services industry over many years, most notably in the wake of the global financial crisis where he worked with government and trade bodies in establishing best practice in stewardship and governance.

John is Head of UK Retail for the funds business. He joined the group in 1994 to set up the retail sales and marketing business for Ivory & Sime, becoming Head of UK Sales at Friends Ivory & Sime in 1998. In 2004, John became UK Sales Director on the acquisition of F&C and then was promoted to head up the UK Retail business in September 2008. In September 2010, he took over the role of UK Sales Director at F&C Thames River, now F&C Investments. Prior to F&C, John worked for The Life Association of Scotland for 8 years performing a number of sales and marketing roles. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics.

Tony’s service with the firm dates back to 2000, including his years with Mercury Asset Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM), which merged with BlackRock in 2006. Tony plays an active role with a number of industry bodies, frequently engaging with regulatory authorities and government on a range of industry issues/ initiatives. In addition to heading the UK Retail business Tony is also a member of the Leadership Committee and Chairs the board of BlackRock Fund Managers Limited. Tony is also a regular speaker on various industry topics.

Prior to joining BlackRock, Tony spent several years in private client fund management with a particular focus upon collective investment schemes. Mr Stenning holds a BA (Hons) in Economics and is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

Rob Fisher is Executive Director/Head of Marketing for Fidelity’s DC and Workplace Savings Business.

Mr Fisher joined Fidelity in March 2001.   For the past eight years he has worked in several distribution roles within Fidelity’s UK Retail Business, including Head of Sales & Marketing for FundsNetwork (where he was responsible for all aspects of the platform’s UK distribution business), Head of UK Retail Marketing for all of Fidelity’s retail business units, and most recently Head of UK Personal Investments.

As Head of Marketing for the DC and Workplace Savings Business, Rob is responsible for the communication and marketing programme for clients and members, as well as supporting Fidelity’s investment-only DC business covering both Fidelity fund and platform offerings.  His experience complements Fidelity’s ambitions to bring the best of what Fidelity offers to direct investors to the workplace such as its corporate ISA, alongside its occupational pension business. In his most recent role as Head of Fidelity’s direct to consumer business Rob was responsible for the customer offering in the UK and he also has experience of the IFA platform market gained in his previous role as Head of Sales and Marketing for Fidelity FundsNetwork.  

Previously he held marketing and client development positions with HSBC Asset Management and Save & Prosper Group (now part of JP Morgan Asset Management).

Born in 1972, Mr Fisher was educated at Kent College, Canterbury and the University of Warwick.

Simon Chinnery, managing director, is head of UK Defined Contribution (DC) for J.P. Morgan Asset Management, based in London. He joined the company in the spring of 2005. Previously, he worked as a senior client advisor in the UK Institutional Team. Before that, he was the director of UK institutional client service with ABN AMRO Asset Management since 2000. Prior to that, Simon was an assistant director with Schroder Investment Management for five years where he worked with both defined benefit and defined contribution institutional clients in the Pooled Pensions Team. Before that, he worked at Gartmore Investment, also in pooled pensions client service. Simon began his career in the city in 1983 as a registered representative, stockbroking for a large private client firm.

Mike joined the LPFA in September 2006, having previously been County Treasurer of Surrey County Council since 1998. LPFA are one of the largest local government schemes with a fund of £4.1 billion and administer pensions for 80,000 members.

Given the duration of our liabilities, LPFA aspire to be responsible long term investors, encouraging environmental, social and governance best practice in organisations we invest in, as we believe this will deliver the best long term returns.

LPFA are also a leading specialist in third party administration in the local government sector, administering pensions for a further 180,000 scheme members.

Brought up on Teesside, Mike came south to University College London where he gained a degree in Maths. He then qualified as a CIPFA accountant with the City of Westminster and worked for the London Boroughs of Southwark and Hammersmith and Fulham before joining Surrey.

He is Chairman of the Officers Advisory Group to the Local Government Pensions Committee of the Local Government Association, a member of the CIPFA Pensions Panel and Club Vita Board, a member of the NAPF Local Authority Steering Group and treasurer to the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change. He represents LGPS interests on a number of groups promoting sustainable and affordable pensions, long term responsible investment and good environmental, social and governance practices in pension fund investment.

The £4.1 billion fund split roughly two thirds, one third between a return seeking fund for its 43,000 active and deferred members, and a pensioner fund for its 34,000 pensioners. The return seeking fund has a high proportion of alternative assets whilst the pensioner fund was one of the first in the UK to adopt a liability driven investment strategy.

Mike is frequently invited to speak on pension fund investment and local government pensions fund issues at national conferences.

Rob is Investment Partnership Manager at NOW: Pensions, responsible for bringing the fund management capabilities of the Danish firm, ATP to the UK Auto-Enrolment and Institutional Pensions market place.

Prior to joining NOW:, Rob was responsible for Investment Strategy at AXA Corporate Benefits, where he launched a sophisticated blended fund capability into the market, developed joint ventures to introduce modern investment techniques to the UK, and applied his passion for clear and simple messaging of investment principles to pension scheme savers.  In his earlier career, he was an employee benefit consultant, advising clients on DB and DC scheme design and investment strategy.  One of Rob’s perennial passions is the design of default investment strategies, and the application of lessons learned from behavioural finance research.

Outside of work, Rob is a rugby coach and makes some noise in a nine-piece soul band.

Nick Blake is Head of Sales for Vanguard Investments UK, Limited. Nick's 27 year career in the industry has covered many senior distribution management roles. He is responsible for the Vanguard UK sales team managing our Institutional and Retail client channels.

Steven is Managing Director of Skandia International. Steven has extensive experience in developing and distributing financial service products as well as in asset management and investments. Steven was previously Product & Proposition Director for Old Mutual in South Africa and then globally. He has also been an equity analyst and fund manager in Old Mutual’s asset management business. Steven is an actuary and Chartered Financial Analyst.

Nick Blake is Head of Sales for Vanguard Investments UK, Limited. Nick's 27 year career in the industry has covered many senior distribution management roles. He is responsible for the Vanguard UK sales team managing our Institutional and Retail client channels.

Andrew is Chief Executive of Towry, the Wealth Managers, prior to that he was Chief Executive of Cox Insurance Holdings Plc., the Group Chief Executive of Coutts Group the Wealth Management business of Royal Bank of Scotland, incorporating Coutts & Co. Coutts International, Nat West Private Bank, Nat West Stockbrokers and the RBS Private Banks. During his earlier career Andrew was a senior advisor to one of the world's largest private equity group, the Carlyle Group, and a Partner in the Consultancy practice of Coopers and Lybrand. Andrew is deputy Chair of CHASM (Centre for Household Assets and Savings Management) at the University of Birmingham and also on the DAC (Development Advisory Committee) at Birmingham University. He is on the Board of The National Skills Academy for Financial Services and the Finance Governor for Sandhurst School.

Regional Head of Product Development at Schroders.  An independent asset manager with £202 billion under management for institutional and retail investors, invested in a broad range of asset classes across equities, fixed income, multi-asset and alternatives.

He is a member of the Product Development Committee and was a member of the IMA Sectors Committee for five years until the end of 2012. He is responsible for the development of new products as well as fund range management.

Held various roles within finance team between 1991 and 2000 including financial analyst, financial control and fund accounting.  He qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant with Schroders in 1998 (CGMA).

Degree in Business Studies from University of Portsmouth.

Julie Patterson directs the work of the Investment Management Association on issues impacting authorised funds (regulation, operations, accounting and tax) and on other tax matters (direct and indirect) impacting investment management products and services. She leads a team of people with a wide variety of experience and skills, including specialist knowledge in product regulation, retail distribution, fund accounting, operations and tax. She also leads IMA’s lobbying activity in Europe and internationally and is a member of the Board of Directors of the European Fund and Asset Management Association, EFAMA.

After working for a number of industrial and professional firms, she joined the Bank of England in 1984. She spent 14 years at the Bank, during which she had a variety of responsibilities – markets surveillance, banking supervision, personnel, management of the Government’s yen-denominated reserves – graduating to Senior Manager, FX clearing houses. In 1998, she transferred to the Markets & Exchanges Division of the newly created Financial Services Authority, before joining the Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds (the predecessor of IMA) in 1999 as Senior International Policy Adviser. She was appointed to Director in 2001.

Laurence Kiddle is the Commercial Director for FATCA at Thomson Reuters.  He is responsible for delivering the Thomson Reuters FATCA solution, which brings together market leading software from the Governance, Risk and Compliance and Tax and Accounting divisions in an end-to-end FATCA Compliance package.  

Laurence’s previous role was Head of Indirect Tax Compliance Operations, leading a team focussed on designing and integrating tax technology solutions in complex customer environments.  Prior to joining Thomson Reuters he worked at Arthur Andersen and Deloitte, where he was involved in a number of process and tax technology consulting projects particularly in the Financial and Energy sectors.

Laurence is a Chartered Tax Advisor and holds a Master’s degree in Information Processing.

Graham graduated LLB Honours degree in Law and Diploma in Legal Practice from Dundee University in 1989.  He trained and then practiced law at Dundas & Wilson for six years, specialising in corporate financial services. In 1996, Graham joined the investment management industry as Compliance Manager, then Compliance Officer for Stewart Ivory & Company Ltd. In 2000 he assumed the role of Head of Compliance for the First State Group of Companies (which included Stewart Ivory) and held the position until July 2003. Graham joined Baillie Gifford in May 2004 and is Director of Legal and Regulatory Risk.

Kevin Pleiter is VP Industry, globally responsible for the Financial and Business Services verticals at Dassault Systèmes. Over the past 20 years Kevin has successfully worked in, consulted to and delivered complex business and technology solutions to financial services firms across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Before joining Dassault Systèmes, Kevin held a number of executive positions at IBM including Consulting Partner and Director, Strategic Business Incubation for Financial Services. In addition, Kevin was a senior manager with a leading financial services software firm and held fund management and trading roles with institutions including Salomon Brothers Asset Management and Deutsche Bank.

Kevin has a MBA from University of Connecticut School of Business and a Bachelor of Business from Curtin University in Perth, West Australia.

Dr. Davies leads a global team of behavioural and quantitative finance specialists, and is responsible for the design and global implementation of Barclays' Investment Philosophy.

He is an Associate Fellow at Oxford University's Saïd Business School, and his first book, Behavioral Investment Management, was published in January. He has authored papers in multiple academic disciplines, and is a frequent media commentator on Behavioural Finance.

His background is in both academia and financial services. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Cape Town, an MPhil in Economics, and a PhD in Behavioural Decision Theory, both from Cambridge University.

His commercial background began in financial services consultancy Oliver, Wyman & Co., and thereafter, during his PhD, as a Director of Decision Technology, a consultancy specialising in the commercial application of behavioural and decision sciences.

As Investment Director and Head of the Smaller Companies Equities for Standard Life Investments, Harry manages the Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Fund (OEIC), which he launched in 1997. He spent the early years of his career as a Land Surveyor working both in the UK and in Saudi Arabia mainly on infrastructure projects and oil & gas related construction. In 1984 Harry graduated with an MBA and joined Standard Life the following year. He has held various investment analyst and manager roles covering US equity funds, larger UK quoted company funds and was appointed to his current role in 1993.

His team have launched three OEICs, one SICAV and assumed the management of two Investment Trusts across a range of smaller companies equities markets. The UK Smaller Companies Fund is the leading fund by asset under management in its category. Smaller Companies Funds under management by his team amount around £1.8 billion.

Michiel joined Ignis in 2010 as managing director and chief investment officer (CIO). Previously, he was chief investment officer of RBS Asset Management's fund of hedge fund, private equity and long-only multi-manager businesses that were acquired by Aberdeen Asset Managers in February 2010. Michiel was co-founder of Coutts' fund of hedge fund business and spent two years working for a London-based European equity hedge fund. He graduated from Oxford University with a D. Phil.

Miles Geldard joined Jupiter in 2010 and currently manages the Jupiter Global Convertibles SICAV, Jupiter Strategic Total Return SICAV and the Jupiter Strategic Reserve Fund (Unit Trust). Before joining Jupiter, Miles was the founder and Head of the Multi-Asset and Convertibles teams at RWC Partners. Prior to this, Miles was a Fund Manager at Jardine Fleming (which later became JPMorgan) for 9 years, where he was Head of the Global Multi-Asset Group and Global Strategy teams. Miles gained a degree in Oriental Studies from Oxford University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Andy Davis is a writer on investment, finance and business. He spent 15 years as a journalist on the Financial Times, most recently as editor of FT Weekend.

He is an associate editor and investment columnist for Prospect, the monthly current affairs magazine, and in May 2012 was named Personal Financial Journalist of the year in the Wincott Awards on the strength of his columns for Prospect. He also serves as reserve trustee for the Pearson Group Pension Scheme.

Andy writes for a range of newspapers and magazines and is the author of two research reports on alternative sources of finance for small businesses: the first Beyond the Banks report, published by Nesta in September 2011, and Seeds of Change, published by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation in July 2012.

Edward Bonham Carter joined Jupiter in 1994. He is Jupiter Fund Management plc's Group Chief Executive and, until February 2010, was also Chief Investment Officer. Edward started his career in the early 1980s at Schroder Investment Management analysing UK and US equities. In 1986, he joined Electra Investment where he successfully managed quoted portfolio accounting for some 30% of the trust's assets. In 1994 he joined Jupiter with a brief to manage high performance funds invested in the UK stock market. Edward gained a degree in Economics and Politics from Manchester University.

Keith has been our Chief Executive since 2004 and has responsibility for overseeing the £158bn of assets managed at Standard Life Investments. He has been a Director since joining in 1999 as our Chief Investment Officer, and has also been on the Board of Standard Life plc since 2006.

Prior to that, from 1980 to 1999, Keith was with James Capel (HSBC Securities from 1996) where his previous roles included; 1998 Managing Director of International Equities, 1993 Director of Economics and Strategy, 1984 Chief Economist and in 1980 International Economist. Keith started his career in 1979 at the Government Economic Service.

Keith has held a number of key industry appointments and responsibilities. He is a board member of the Financial Reporting Council, Investment Management Association and a member of the Advisory Board of Reform Scotland. In June 2011 he was also appointed to the Advisory Council of the Institutional Investor Committee. He stepped down as Chairman of ABI Investment Committee in August 2010 having completed three years in office.

Immediately prior to this Keith contributed to the industry through a number of channels including; (2007) Director Association of British Insurers, Chairman IMA Asset Management Committee and the Chancellor's Working Group on Rights Issues, and (2006) FSA Senior Practitioner Panel.

Keith was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration from Teesside University in 2011. This was in recognition of his contribution to the financial services industry over many years, most notably in the wake of the global financial crisis where he worked with government and trade bodies in establishing best practice in stewardship and governance.

Helena Morrissey CBE

Helena joined Newton in 1994 as a fixed income fund manager and was appointed CEO in 2001. During her time running Newton's bond funds she was twice-winner of Investment Week's Global Bond Fund Manager of the year.

Helena is involved in many aspects of the UK fund management industry and was named the Financial News 'Most Influential Woman in European Asset Management' in 2010. She was the first female director of the UK's Investment Management Association, serving from 2005 till 2012. She represents the investment industry on the FSA's Practitioner Panel, a statutory body providing input to the regulators from practitioners' perspectives . She is a member of the University of Cambridge Endowment Investment Board and chairman of the Eve Appeal, which funds research into gynaecological cancers.

In 2010, Helena founded the 30% Club, a cross-business initiative aimed at achieving 30% women on UK corporate boards by 2015 through voluntary, business-led change. She was appointed CBE in the 2012 New Year's Honours list.

A Cambridge philosophy graduate, she began her career as a global bond analyst with Schroders in New York. She is married with nine children.

Tony’s service with the firm dates back to 2000, including his years with Mercury Asset Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM), which merged with BlackRock in 2006. Tony plays an active role with a number of industry bodies, frequently engaging with regulatory authorities and government on a range of industry issues/ initiatives. In addition to heading the UK Retail business Tony is also a member of the Leadership Committee and Chairs the board of BlackRock Fund Managers Limited. Tony is also a regular speaker on various industry topics.

Prior to joining BlackRock, Tony spent several years in private client fund management with a particular focus upon collective investment schemes. Mr Stenning holds a BA (Hons) in Economics and is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

Steven is Managing Director of Skandia International. Steven has extensive experience in developing and distributing financial service products as well as in asset management and investments. Steven was previously Product & Proposition Director for Old Mutual in South Africa and then globally. He has also been an equity analyst and fund manager in Old Mutual’s asset management business. Steven is an actuary and Chartered Financial Analyst.

Rob Fisher is Executive Director/Head of Marketing for Fidelity’s DC and Workplace Savings Business.

Mr Fisher joined Fidelity in March 2001.   For the past eight years he has worked in several distribution roles within Fidelity’s UK Retail Business, including Head of Sales & Marketing for FundsNetwork (where he was responsible for all aspects of the platform’s UK distribution business), Head of UK Retail Marketing for all of Fidelity’s retail business units, and most recently Head of UK Personal Investments.

As Head of Marketing for the DC and Workplace Savings Business, Rob is responsible for the communication and marketing programme for clients and members, as well as supporting Fidelity’s investment-only DC business covering both Fidelity fund and platform offerings.  His experience complements Fidelity’s ambitions to bring the best of what Fidelity offers to direct investors to the workplace such as its corporate ISA, alongside its occupational pension business. In his most recent role as Head of Fidelity’s direct to consumer business Rob was responsible for the customer offering in the UK and he also has experience of the IFA platform market gained in his previous role as Head of Sales and Marketing for Fidelity FundsNetwork.  

Previously he held marketing and client development positions with HSBC Asset Management and Save & Prosper Group (now part of JP Morgan Asset Management).

Born in 1972, Mr Fisher was educated at Kent College, Canterbury and the University of Warwick.

Michiel joined Ignis in 2010 as managing director and chief investment officer (CIO). Previously, he was chief investment officer of RBS Asset Management's fund of hedge fund, private equity and long-only multi-manager businesses that were acquired by Aberdeen Asset Managers in February 2010. Michiel was co-founder of Coutts' fund of hedge fund business and spent two years working for a London-based European equity hedge fund. He graduated from Oxford University with a D. Phil.

As Investment Director and Head of the Smaller Companies Equities for Standard Life Investments, Harry manages the Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Fund (OEIC), which he launched in 1997. He spent the early years of his career as a Land Surveyor working both in the UK and in Saudi Arabia mainly on infrastructure projects and oil & gas related construction. In 1984 Harry graduated with an MBA and joined Standard Life the following year. He has held various investment analyst and manager roles covering US equity funds, larger UK quoted company funds and was appointed to his current role in 1993.

His team have launched three OEICs, one SICAV and assumed the management of two Investment Trusts across a range of smaller companies equities markets. The UK Smaller Companies Fund is the leading fund by asset under management in its category. Smaller Companies Funds under management by his team amount around £1.8 billion.

John is Head of UK Retail for the funds business. He joined the group in 1994 to set up the retail sales and marketing business for Ivory & Sime, becoming Head of UK Sales at Friends Ivory & Sime in 1998. In 2004, John became UK Sales Director on the acquisition of F&C and then was promoted to head up the UK Retail business in September 2008. In September 2010, he took over the role of UK Sales Director at F&C Thames River, now F&C Investments. Prior to F&C, John worked for The Life Association of Scotland for 8 years performing a number of sales and marketing roles. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics.

Regional Head of Product Development at Schroders.  An independent asset manager with £202 billion under management for institutional and retail investors, invested in a broad range of asset classes across equities, fixed income, multi-asset and alternatives.

He is a member of the Product Development Committee and was a member of the IMA Sectors Committee for five years until the end of 2012. He is responsible for the development of new products as well as fund range management.

Held various roles within finance team between 1991 and 2000 including financial analyst, financial control and fund accounting.  He qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant with Schroders in 1998 (CGMA).

Degree in Business Studies from University of Portsmouth.

Simon Chinnery, managing director, is head of UK Defined Contribution (DC) for J.P. Morgan Asset Management, based in London. He joined the company in the spring of 2005. Previously, he worked as a senior client advisor in the UK Institutional Team. Before that, he was the director of UK institutional client service with ABN AMRO Asset Management since 2000. Prior to that, Simon was an assistant director with Schroder Investment Management for five years where he worked with both defined benefit and defined contribution institutional clients in the Pooled Pensions Team. Before that, he worked at Gartmore Investment, also in pooled pensions client service. Simon began his career in the city in 1983 as a registered representative, stockbroking for a large private client firm.

Graham graduated LLB Honours degree in Law and Diploma in Legal Practice from Dundee University in 1989.  He trained and then practiced law at Dundas & Wilson for six years, specialising in corporate financial services. In 1996, Graham joined the investment management industry as Compliance Manager, then Compliance Officer for Stewart Ivory & Company Ltd. In 2000 he assumed the role of Head of Compliance for the First State Group of Companies (which included Stewart Ivory) and held the position until July 2003. Graham joined Baillie Gifford in May 2004 and is Director of Legal and Regulatory Risk.

Andrew is Chief Executive of Towry, the Wealth Managers, prior to that he was Chief Executive of Cox Insurance Holdings Plc., the Group Chief Executive of Coutts Group the Wealth Management business of Royal Bank of Scotland, incorporating Coutts & Co. Coutts International, Nat West Private Bank, Nat West Stockbrokers and the RBS Private Banks. During his earlier career Andrew was a senior advisor to one of the world's largest private equity group, the Carlyle Group, and a Partner in the Consultancy practice of Coopers and Lybrand. Andrew is deputy Chair of CHASM (Centre for Household Assets and Savings Management) at the University of Birmingham and also on the DAC (Development Advisory Committee) at Birmingham University. He is on the Board of The National Skills Academy for Financial Services and the Finance Governor for Sandhurst School.

Nick Blake is Head of Sales for Vanguard Investments UK, Limited. Nick's 27 year career in the industry has covered many senior distribution management roles. He is responsible for the Vanguard UK sales team managing our Institutional and Retail client channels.

Miles Geldard joined Jupiter in 2010 and currently manages the Jupiter Global Convertibles SICAV, Jupiter Strategic Total Return SICAV and the Jupiter Strategic Reserve Fund (Unit Trust). Before joining Jupiter, Miles was the founder and Head of the Multi-Asset and Convertibles teams at RWC Partners. Prior to this, Miles was a Fund Manager at Jardine Fleming (which later became JPMorgan) for 9 years, where he was Head of the Global Multi-Asset Group and Global Strategy teams. Miles gained a degree in Oriental Studies from Oxford University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Dr. Davies leads a global team of behavioural and quantitative finance specialists, and is responsible for the design and global implementation of Barclays' Investment Philosophy.

He is an Associate Fellow at Oxford University's Saïd Business School, and his first book, Behavioral Investment Management, was published in January. He has authored papers in multiple academic disciplines, and is a frequent media commentator on Behavioural Finance.

His background is in both academia and financial services. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Cape Town, an MPhil in Economics, and a PhD in Behavioural Decision Theory, both from Cambridge University.

His commercial background began in financial services consultancy Oliver, Wyman & Co., and thereafter, during his PhD, as a Director of Decision Technology, a consultancy specialising in the commercial application of behavioural and decision sciences.

Mike joined the LPFA in September 2006, having previously been County Treasurer of Surrey County Council since 1998. LPFA are one of the largest local government schemes with a fund of £4.1 billion and administer pensions for 80,000 members.

Given the duration of our liabilities, LPFA aspire to be responsible long term investors, encouraging environmental, social and governance best practice in organisations we invest in, as we believe this will deliver the best long term returns.

LPFA are also a leading specialist in third party administration in the local government sector, administering pensions for a further 180,000 scheme members.

Brought up on Teesside, Mike came south to University College London where he gained a degree in Maths. He then qualified as a CIPFA accountant with the City of Westminster and worked for the London Boroughs of Southwark and Hammersmith and Fulham before joining Surrey.

He is Chairman of the Officers Advisory Group to the Local Government Pensions Committee of the Local Government Association, a member of the CIPFA Pensions Panel and Club Vita Board, a member of the NAPF Local Authority Steering Group and treasurer to the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change. He represents LGPS interests on a number of groups promoting sustainable and affordable pensions, long term responsible investment and good environmental, social and governance practices in pension fund investment.

The £4.1 billion fund split roughly two thirds, one third between a return seeking fund for its 43,000 active and deferred members, and a pensioner fund for its 34,000 pensioners. The return seeking fund has a high proportion of alternative assets whilst the pensioner fund was one of the first in the UK to adopt a liability driven investment strategy.

Mike is frequently invited to speak on pension fund investment and local government pensions fund issues at national conferences.

Rob is Investment Partnership Manager at NOW: Pensions, responsible for bringing the fund management capabilities of the Danish firm, ATP to the UK Auto-Enrolment and Institutional Pensions market place.

Prior to joining NOW:, Rob was responsible for Investment Strategy at AXA Corporate Benefits, where he launched a sophisticated blended fund capability into the market, developed joint ventures to introduce modern investment techniques to the UK, and applied his passion for clear and simple messaging of investment principles to pension scheme savers.  In his earlier career, he was an employee benefit consultant, advising clients on DB and DC scheme design and investment strategy.  One of Rob’s perennial passions is the design of default investment strategies, and the application of lessons learned from behavioural finance research.

Outside of work, Rob is a rugby coach and makes some noise in a nine-piece soul band.

Julie Patterson directs the work of the Investment Management Association on issues impacting authorised funds (regulation, operations, accounting and tax) and on other tax matters (direct and indirect) impacting investment management products and services. She leads a team of people with a wide variety of experience and skills, including specialist knowledge in product regulation, retail distribution, fund accounting, operations and tax. She also leads IMA’s lobbying activity in Europe and internationally and is a member of the Board of Directors of the European Fund and Asset Management Association, EFAMA.

After working for a number of industrial and professional firms, she joined the Bank of England in 1984. She spent 14 years at the Bank, during which she had a variety of responsibilities – markets surveillance, banking supervision, personnel, management of the Government’s yen-denominated reserves – graduating to Senior Manager, FX clearing houses. In 1998, she transferred to the Markets & Exchanges Division of the newly created Financial Services Authority, before joining the Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds (the predecessor of IMA) in 1999 as Senior International Policy Adviser. She was appointed to Director in 2001.

Laurence Kiddle is the Commercial Director for FATCA at Thomson Reuters.  He is responsible for delivering the Thomson Reuters FATCA solution, which brings together market leading software from the Governance, Risk and Compliance and Tax and Accounting divisions in an end-to-end FATCA Compliance package.  

Laurence’s previous role was Head of Indirect Tax Compliance Operations, leading a team focussed on designing and integrating tax technology solutions in complex customer environments.  Prior to joining Thomson Reuters he worked at Arthur Andersen and Deloitte, where he was involved in a number of process and tax technology consulting projects particularly in the Financial and Energy sectors.

Laurence is a Chartered Tax Advisor and holds a Master’s degree in Information Processing.

Kevin Pleiter is VP Industry, globally responsible for the Financial and Business Services verticals at Dassault Systèmes. Over the past 20 years Kevin has successfully worked in, consulted to and delivered complex business and technology solutions to financial services firms across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Before joining Dassault Systèmes, Kevin held a number of executive positions at IBM including Consulting Partner and Director, Strategic Business Incubation for Financial Services. In addition, Kevin was a senior manager with a leading financial services software firm and held fund management and trading roles with institutions including Salomon Brothers Asset Management and Deutsche Bank.

Kevin has a MBA from University of Connecticut School of Business and a Bachelor of Business from Curtin University in Perth, West Australia.

Andy Davis is a writer on investment, finance and business. He spent 15 years as a journalist on the Financial Times, most recently as editor of FT Weekend.

He is an associate editor and investment columnist for Prospect, the monthly current affairs magazine, and in May 2012 was named Personal Financial Journalist of the year in the Wincott Awards on the strength of his columns for Prospect. He also serves as reserve trustee for the Pearson Group Pension Scheme.

Andy writes for a range of newspapers and magazines and is the author of two research reports on alternative sources of finance for small businesses: the first Beyond the Banks report, published by Nesta in September 2011, and Seeds of Change, published by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation in July 2012.