Net Zero Investor’s Annual Conference 2024

Natalie is an accredited professional pension trustee and director of Law Debenture Pension Trust Corporation Plc.  She is trustee to DB, DC and hybrid schemes. Her trustee appointments include SEI MasterTrust, Tesco, Syngenta and DHL.

Natalie has worked in pensions for over 25 years with roles in pensions actuarial, investment consulting and asset management.  She is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and a CFA Charterholder.  She was awarded Fellowship of the CFA UK for her services to the investment industry.  She is a past Chair of the CFA UK.  She was shortlisted this year for a lifetime achievement award by Professional Pensions. 

David is an experienced investor with over two decades’ experience investing in high growth, early-stage businesses. He began his career at 3i before joining Foursome, where he managed an environmental technology fund and a development capital fund.

David’s wealth of experience in investment and early-stage business growth ideally positions him to advise Elbow Beach Capital’s portfolio companies.

David is currently a Partner at Albion Capital and CEO at Applerigg where he is focussed on building new asset-based businesses.

David has a degree in Economics from Warwick University and is a qualified ACMA.

Thomas is an Investment Director within the Fixed Income team at abrdn. He has responsibilities across credit funds globally with a focus on EUR and GBP bonds. He helped launch and is now a manager of abrdn’s Climate Transition Bond Fund. Since joining the company in 2013 his roles have focused primarily on credit research with a particular interest in climate change. His sector expertise cover real estate, retail, building materials and structured finance, among others, in both public and private debt. Thomas graduated from the University of Manchester where he obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Finance Law. He is a CFA Charterholder.

Joined from Aegon UK, one of the UK’s largest DC pension providers where she established and led the responsible investment team, overseeing Aegon’s climate and stewardship efforts, leading Aegon’s efforts to invest in the energy transition and serving in Aegon’s investment leadership team.

Prior to that, Hilkka led the responsible investment strategy at Inter Fund Management, part of the Interogo Foundation/IKEA and held roles at EY, the Principles for Responsible Investment, the OECD and the United Nations.

Hilkka is a co-chair of the UK Department for Work and Pensions Taskforce on Social Factors and is an active participant in industry dialogue having served on the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance and the Steering Committee of the UK Asset Owner Council.

I am a sustainable investment specialist with over 15 years’ experience, most recently with the United Nations supported Principles of Responsible Investment, where I led a team supporting 1400 investors to implement environmental, social and governance criteria into investment strategy, decisions and stewardship. At Redington, I am responsible for leading the firm’s global sustainability strategy, integrating this across different business channels, and expanding the organisation’s capabilities across new global markets and with a broader class of asset owners including endowments, foundations, and charities.

Julien is Head of Pension and Corporate Solutions at BNP Paribas AM having joined in April 2018 from Mercer where he spent 6 years as Principal. Prior to that Julien worked for Goldman Sachs, Aon, P-Solve and Lazard. With investment banking and consulting experience stretching over 26 years Julien has spent over 15 years advising institutional clients on structuring and implementing pensions and insurance solutions for national and cross-border clients.

Director with over 15 years’ experience in renewable energy and clean technology

Ms. Smith-Maxwell has successfully advised on more than 4GW of renewable energy power projects including onshore wind, solar and biomass technologies. Her clean technology expertise includes behind the meter storage and battery manufacture technologies

Rosalind was a Vice President at Fieldstone Private Capital Group between 2015 and 2020, where she focussed on transactions located in Europe and Africa. Prior to joining Fieldstone she was at Climate Change Capital for seven and a half years

She holds a BSc in Genetics from the University of Edinburgh, and was called to the Bar in 2009, after being awarded the Jules Thorn scholarship by Middle Temple

Mark Lyon is Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, one of the largest LGPS pools in the UK responsible for the management of £38.3bn. He oversees the management of the internal equities, fixed income and private markets investment functions. Mark has more than 20 years’ experience in investment management and is a CFA Charterholder. He was previously the Head of Investments for the Derbyshire and East Riding local authority pension funds. Prior to working in investment management, Mark worked in Corporate Finance and Audit for BDO Stoy Hayward where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Joe is an investment director at Better Society Capital, covering investments in impact venture and renewables, and managing impact for the Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust. Prior to joining the team, he worked for donor funded impact investment initiatives in Africa and Asia, including the Private Infrastructure Development Group and the DFID Impact Programme.

Joe also co-founded the PeoplesPower, a community interest company to help lower energy bills and tackle fuel poverty in the UK.

JP co-founded Elbow Beach Capital, an early-stage climate tech venture capital, in 2021.

Having held several senior leadership roles over nearly 20 years within large telecoms and tech companies including BT Group, the FTSE 100 media and telecoms company, JP has expertise in targeted investment and go-to-market strategy, transforming business units’ scale and profitability.

JP leverages this experience alongside market analysis to advise growth enterprises on resource optimisation and in-turn revenue generation.

JP holds an MBA from Imperial College London and a BA (Hons) in Business Economics from the University of Reading.

Olly Hughes is a Managing Director and a member of the Forestry Investment Committee at Gresham House since January 2019 leading the Forestry Division. He is responsible for managing the growth and development of Gresham House’s forestry

activities including acquisitions, fund and private client management and forestry asset management. Prior to joining Gresham House, he was a Partner and Head of Infrastructure at Oxford Capital for six years where he built and managed a portfolio

of over £300m of solar and wind renewable energy assets. He started his career at ING Barings in 1995 focusing on asset backed structuring and since then has focused his career on real asset investment management.

Olly has over 20 years of investment experience and holds a Bachelor of Arts and a master’s degree from the University of Oxford in Biological Science. He also obtained the Investment Management Certificate from the CFA Society in the UK.

Alex leads the natural capital investment strategy. Alex joined Octopus Capital from Savills, where he was Head of Natural Capital (Rural and Projects), spearheading the development and delivery of innovative solutions for landowners, investors, and policymakers. His expertise spans carbon markets, biodiversity, and water. With over 15 years of experience in investment banking, venture building, and environmental consulting, Alex is a seasoned professional in natural capital, regenerative agriculture, and climate finance.

Marc joined Cushon last year as Head of Investment because of Cushon’s commitment to the climate, and market leading approach to climate integration in investment strategy design. An investment actuary, Marc previously worked in Climate Risk at JP Morgan, so has first hand experience of how climate integration can be used to drive change alongside returns for investors. Since joining Cushon, Marc has helped design the climate integration framework through which the Cushon portfolio is constructed.

Greg Munford joined the sovereign New Zealand Superannuation (pension) Fund as a Senior Investment Strategist in 2020.

Greg has collaborated on dozens of successful sustainability-related strategies, policies, projects and investments with local, national and international partners – including local/national government agencies, corporations, the EU, World Bank/IFC, and Asian Development Bank.

With deep experience across the infrastructure, real estate and natural resources sectors spanning Asia, Pacific, UK and the Americas, Greg brings his expertise and cross-disciplinary training in physical and social/policy sciences to bear for the NZ Super Fund – addressing risks, opportunities and reporting requirements across the climate, nature and broader ESG spectrum.

Beverley is Founder and Managing Partner of Clean Growth Investment Management, a venture capital fund manager that  invests in the UK’s most promising early stage cleantech companies that have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. She is also CEO of Carbon Limiting Technologies (2006), a cleantech consultancy for corporates, financiers, government officials and SMEs. Prior she was she was a founder and Vice President, Shell Technology Ventures. 

Beverley is a thought leader in early stage cleantech investments and commercialisation with over 40 years’ experience in the international energy sector. She specialises in accelerating innovation to market and scaling companies by providing strategic insights, developing industry partnerships and identifying novel ways to overcome barriers to entry. Her ambition is to create a better, sustainable world and she firmly believes that this will be achieved through climatetech innovation playing a transformative role in the global economy. In 2023, Beverley was awarded an OBE by His Majesty King Charles III for services to Net Zero innovation. She is a NED and Chair of Investment Committee at Great British Energy and previously an independent member of the UK’s cross-government Net Zero Innovation Board chaired by the chief science advisor, Dame Angela McLean. Beverley is a Fellow of the Energy Institute. She holds a BSc in Mining Geology from University College Cardiff.

Joanna is a Partner in Aon’s Investment Practice and the Chief Investment Officer for Aon’s DC
Solutions. She has over 20 years’ experience in the pension and investment industry and is a Fellow of
the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.
Joanna is responsible for the development and implementation of delegated investment solutions for
DC pension schemes, working closely with Aon’s UK delegated team. Joanna also leads the
development of Aon’s house views around DC investments, in particular default and lifestyle strategies,
and sits on the UK DC Investment Committee.

Callum is a DC Investment Partner at XPS with nearly 18 years’ experience in investment consulting and driving defined contribution strategy and proposition. A qualified actuary, he is well known for his focus on improving member outcomes, sustainable investing, and the effective use of private assets. He pioneered the ‘10‑10‑10’ rule for illiquid investments and has played a key role in evolving major DC investment propositions, including at Standard Life. At XPS, Callum leads strategic growth within the DC investment business.

David is the Chair of the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), which assesses companies’ preparedness for the transition to a low carbon future, supporting the efforts of investors in addressing climate change.  

Prior to this, David was the Head of Responsible Investment at the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the largest UK pension, where he worked from 2001 to 2023. He led USS’s RI team from 2006, which included all USS’s ESG integration and stewardship related activities across both public and private asset classes, including ESG and climate related reporting.

David is a former Board member of the PRI, is an advisor to the Board of the IIGCC, and until June 2023 was on the Board of the International Centre for Pensions Management.  

More broadly, David is a member of the FTSE Russell Sustainable Investment Advisory Committee, and was also a member of the UK Investment Associations’ Sustainability and Responsible Investment Committee.

Prior to joining USS, David worked as an Environmental Manager for a UK retail company, and was for five years a University lecturer in Environmental Management.  He has a Masters Degree in Environmental Impact Assessment.

Keith Guthrie is the Head of Sustainability for Cardano UK and for NOW: Pensions, a member of our Sustainability Policy Committee and a partner in the firm. He focuses on the development and integration of sustainability into Cardano’s investment offerings for UK clients and for NOW: Pensions, working closely with our inhouse teams, clients and trustees. Prior to moving to the Sustainability Group in 2023, Keith spent 15 years co-leading Cardano’s investment teams. Prior to joining Cardano in 2008, Keith worked at GAM and RMB International managing a variety of multi-asset portfolios. Keith graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, with a BSc (Hons) in Statistics & Actuarial Science and is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Chris van der Merwe is a Responsible Investment Manager at Brunel Pension Partnership. He leads the integration of ESG and climate data across Brunel, focusing on improving climate-related disclosures, risk reporting, and supporting a range of responsible investment themes. 

Before joining Brunel in 2022, Chris worked at AtkinsRéalis the multi-disciplinary engineering firm where he supported the development of tracking project emissions and increasing net-zero skills and capabilities within the firm. He also currently sits on the Strategic Advisory Committee of the Transition Pathway Initiative and the Steering Committee for the Asset Owner Diversity Charter.

Chris holds an MSc in Climate Change, Management and Finance from Imperial College London.

Véronique Chapplow is an investment specialist focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) capabilities in the Equity Division.

Véronique’s investment experience began in 2000, and she has been with T. Rowe Price since 2021, representing the firm’s ESG capabilities to internal and external stakeholders globally. Before she joined the firm, Véronique spent five years as investment director for ESG and impact equities at M&G Investments. In that role, Véronique not only met with clients, prospects and consultants to discuss ESG and impact equity strategies, but she also was heavily involved in advocacy work to promote awareness of ESG and impact investing.

Based in London, Jo leads the development of the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute (AFII)’s research, which supports fixed income investors in aligning their portfolios to climate and sustainability goals.

Jo joined AFII from JPMorgan where she worked for 18 years in fixed income markets. She has extensive experience trading structured, flow and index credit products, and in the modeling and valuation of derivatives.

Jo has an MA Hons Mathematics & Management Studies from Trinity College Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Management Accountants. She serves as trustee and advisor to a number of charities and social enterprises in the UK.

Chandra Gopinathan is a senior responsible investment professional with more than two decades of experience across public and private markets in credit structuring and investing, portfolio management, sustainability, stewardship and credit research. Until recently, Chandra was a Senior Investment Manager at Railpen covering external managers, multi-asset credit and energy transition investing, and supporting climate strategy, stewardship, and solutions. Chandra is a member of the Technical Advisory Group at SBTI, has been the chair of the Asset Owner working group at the UK TPT, the co-chair of the bondholder stewardship initiative at IIGCC and has also served on the TPI steering committee. Prior to Railpen, Chandra has worked across the buy and sell side at Rogge/Allianz Global Investors and Morgan Stanley. Chandra has a Master’s degree from Columbia University and a CAIA designation.