Net Zero Investor’s Transition and Climate Investment Forum

Lindsey Stewart is director of institutional insights for Morningstar. Lindsey leads outreach and content strategy for Morningstar’s institutional investor audience. Formerly Morningstar’s director of investment stewardship research, Lindsey is best known for writing and speaking about corporate governance, sustainability, and regulation. Today, he also brings Morningstar’s insights on asset allocation, active vs passive investing, private markets and other key topics to a wider institutional audience. Lindsey has enjoyed a varied 25-year career spanning investor engagement, financial analysis and reporting, financial regulation, and marketing and communications at Makinson Cowell, KPMG, and the Financial Reporting Council. Lindsey is a Chartered Management Accountant, and he holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.

Since 2016, Gerald has served as principal of GCY Associates LLC. GCY Associates LLC is a small, independent, global
institutional advisory and consulting firm with clients that have ranged from an Ivy League university, to a small
private HBCU, to a multi-billion euro multilateral, Geneva, Switzerland-based scientific research organisation, to
multiple international periodicals. He also serves on various boards, including working as an independent director to
an integrated, global insurance fund and as an advisory board member to a related insurance group, including serving
as the group’s Chair, Investment Committee. Most recently (2024), he was named Chief Investment Officer of the
National Public Pension Funds Association (NPPFA). He has also served as an advisor/consultant to a global securities
law firm and to a former Ambassador.

From 2002 – 2016, Gerald served as VP & Chief Investment Officer for the UNCF. where he actively managed three (3)
portfolios through a myriad of outside consultants, managers, custodians, etc. At their peak, those 3 portfolios totalled
approximately $1 billion. One was a dedicated, fixed-income portfolio for a special scholarship programme created in
conjunction with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that was designed to use a dedicated defeasance strategy to
immunise programme liabilities via matching cash flows and durations, akin to pension plans; the second was a
traditional, fully-diversified, long-term, endowment portfolio; and the third was a short-term portfolio that staggered
maturities across various short-term instruments. Prior to UNCF, he worked with UBS as a retail broker and with
PaineWebber (1995) as part of a team for institutional fixed income sales covering government issues, corporates,
Eurobonds, etc. Lastly, he worked in both the retail and commercial banking divisions of Riggs National Bank of
Washington (1990) in multiple capacities.

Gerald holds postgraduate degrees in Economics from the London School of Economics & Political Science and York
University and in Law from the University of Miami and the Washington College of Law. His undergraduate degree
is in Economics from the American University with honours. Gerald has served on multiple advisory boards1,
committees, etc. He was nominated for multiple industry awards and, most recently, won the award from Institutional
Investor “Investor Intelligence Awards, Endowments & Foundations, Thought Leadership” (2016) in the endowment
and foundation space. He was nominated twice on the “ai-CIO, Power 100 CIOs” (2012 & 2013) global list of chief
investment officers and has spoken on many global institutional investor panels all over the world.2 Most recently,
Gerald agreed to serve as an Adjunct Professor to teach a class on “Asset Management” at Georgetown University in
Washington, DC.

Gerald is a dual Jamaican-American citizen, married, and currently lives in Washington, DC. He is partly bilingual
(English & French) and is also an avid, recreational chef de cuisine, sportsman, voracious reader and global traveller.
Lastly, his favourite saying & life’s aspiration and motto is: “Stay centred in the Tao and the world comes to you.
Comes, and isn’t harmed. Comes, and finds contentment.” – by Lao Tzu (ca. 5th c. BC.)

1Various advisory board memberships have included the RF Kennedy Leadership Council, Institutional Investor,
Investment Management Institute, Alternative Investment Management Association & US & Latin Markets Group.
2 Featured panel and keynote speaking appearances have been in Europe (UK, Germany, Austria, Holland,
Switzerland, etc.), S. America (Brazil, Colombia, etc.), N. America, the Caribbean, the Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia,
etc.) and Australia.

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.

Jennifer Anderson is the Global Head of Investment Stewardship and Sustainable Investment at Lazard Asset Management. Jennifer provides firmwide leadership and expertise on stewardship, engagement, voting, and the integration of relevant sustainability considerations into investment processes. Her team works with portfolio managers and analysts across investment strategies to support effective implementation and to develop solutions for clients that seek to embed sustainability and climate insights and stewardship practices into their mandates. She began working in the investment field in 2006. Prior to joining Lazard in 2019, Jennifer was an Investment Manager for TPT Retirement Solutions and during this time she also served on the Board of the Directors of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC). Her prior role was as an equity research analyst in sustainable investment at Citigroup Global Capital Markets and she started her career as an SRI analyst at Jupiter Asset Management. Jennifer has a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Economic History from the University of Leicester and a master’s degree in Environment Technology from Imperial College London.

Mohammed Khalil is a sustainable investment strategist at Standard Life. He is primarily responsible for developing net zero/decarbonising investment strategies for policyholder portfolios. Previously, he was a multi-asset portfolio manager at BlackRock, where he was responsible for developing and managing investment solutions for pensions, foundations, and family offices.

Edwin leads the client delivery of Sustainable Investment advice at Gallagher. He, and a group of colleagues ensure that all of their clients are adequately, and proportionally integrating environmental, social and governance considerations into their investment decision making.

Justine leads the strategic development, management and operations of AFII, and directs our funder relations.

Justine has spent much of her career helping business leaders, financial institutions and governments find solutions to the global challenges of climate change and sustainable development.

Formerly Deputy CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, Justine has a track record in building international non-profit organisations with a strong climate impact footprint, most notably in the development of the green bonds market working closely with financial institutions.

Justine has an M.Sc. in environmental economics and policy from Imperial College London and post-graduate training in molecular genomics at Yale.

Nigel Topping was appointed by the UK Prime Minister as UN Climate Change High Level Champion for COP26. In this role Nigel mobilised global private sector actors and local government to take bold action on climate change, launching the Race To Zero and Race To Resilience campaigns and, with Mark Carney, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero.

Nigel is also a global advisor to governments, financial institutions and private companies on climate and industrial strategy, a non-executive director of the UK Infrastructure Bank and an Honorary Professor of Economics at Exeter University.

Chris Stark leads the UK Government’s mission to achieve Clean Power by 2030, heading ’Mission Control’, the nerve centre of its delivery. He is tasked with defining Britain’s path to clean power and ensuring policies and the key institutions are equipped to deliver it.   

Chris is a renowned climate and energy policy expert, speaking regularly about the urgency of confronting climate change and the opportunities of developing clean energy. As CEO of the UK’s Climate Change Committee he was the UK’s chief climate adviser, leading independent advice to put the world’s first Net Zero target into law and developing detailed cross-economy pathways to its achievement under the UK Climate Change Act. Chris has also been CEO of the Carbon Trust, a global climate consultancy, and has held a number of senior roles in the UK and Scottish Governments over the last 20 years.

Chris was lead expert for the UK Parliament’s ‘Net Zero UK’ citizens’ assembly. He has also featured in national and international news and media, alongside David Attenborough and other prominent commentators. Chris is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, an Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow and serves on the Boards of V&A Dundee and the arts climate charity Murmur.  

Paolo is Head of Thematic Research at Impax, within the firm’s Sustainability Centre. He leads the development and governance of Impax’s Thematic Universe of listed equities and its associated taxonomies – the proprietary frameworks that define the firm’s investment opportunity set across environmental and social themes – ensuring analytical consistency and rigorous integration across the investment process. Working closely with investment teams, he shapes how structural trends across environmental and social markets translate into investable themes and revenue exposure at the company level.

Paolo also oversees Impax’s impact measurement work, developing methodologies that assess the real-world environmental and social outcomes associated with the firm’s investments.

Paolo joined Impax in 2013 from Pactum Asset Management, where he was an analyst on a long/short natural resources equity fund. He began his career as a research engineer in the Department of Energy at Politecnico di Torino, working on sustainable mobility projects.

He holds an MBA in International Management from ESCP Business School and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering from Politecnico di Torino.

James is a Workplace Investment Director looking after FutureWise Target Dated Fund Strategy and a number of key strategic IO clients since February 2023. He comes with 13 years DC Investment industry experience from Aon, where he was Head of DC Investments for 8 Years and is qualified as a Regulated Financial Planner, with a specialism in DC investment strategy design, sustainability, less liquid asset integration and provider market knowledge. His responsibilities included working on the Bank of England’s Productive Working Finance Group, governing the Aon DC Product (including the Aon Master Trust), reviewing the investment and bundled proposition of pension providers and advising Employers and Trusts on their workplace investment strategy.

Matteo is a Senior Responsible Investment Specialist at APG Asset Management, specializing in Private Equity and Venture investments. With 15 years interest in Responsible Investment, Matteo has worked extensively on financial and climate risk in both asset management and banking supervision. In its academic career he has published several papers on socially responsible investment and financial inclusion. He holds a PhD in Finance from Maastricht University.

With a career spanning infrastructure, energy transition and long‑term real asset investing, Alex Leonard has led multi‑billion‑dollar strategies across some of the world’s most respected institutions. As Head of Infrastructure & Timberland at the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), he oversees a $4bn global private markets strategy and represents the PPF on the boards of Forico, The Airline Group, Wenita and NAPCo.

Leonard is also a recognised voice in the sector, frequently speaking at industry conferences, contributing to media commentary and participating in Sterling 20 meetings convened by the UK Government’s Office for Investment.

Prior to the PPF, Leonard served as a Principal at AIMCo, leading origination and execution of direct infrastructure investments across Europe and holding board positions at Porterbrook, Constantine Energy Storage and Nabiax Data Centres.

Earlier, he spent eight years at GIC, rising to Vice President and leading global deal teams investing in transport, energy and digital infrastructure. His board experience included Heathrow Airport, Railpool and ADNOC Oil Pipelines.

He began his career in investment banking at RBC Capital Markets and Barclays Capital, advising on M&A and financing in the power, utilities and renewables sectors. He holds a degree in Banking and International Finance from Cass Business School.

Lili Hocke leads on nature and biodiversity within the Total Portfolio Management team in PGGM. Her focus is stewardship and ESG risks. She engages with global companies to address sustainability risks such as deforestation and resource use, and supports the integration of nature-related considerations into investment decision-making. Prior to joining PGGM, Lili spent nearly a decade at Sustainalytics and also worked at Triodos Investment Management, building deep expertise in ESG research, sustainable finance, and investor engagement

An experienced financial journalist who was previously deputy editor at portfolio institutional. Winner of the 2023 WTW Media Awards in the category DB Pensions Journalist of the year.

Atharva Deshmukh is a journalist and head of research at Net Zero Investor, a UK-based publication. He covers climate investment stories and leads the publication’s research product range. His research investigates the intersection of institutional investment, energy transition and climate change. Atharva was previously based in Australia where he led the publication’s coverage of Australian superannuation funds. He is an alumnus of the London School of Economics and has a PhD from the University of Melbourne.

James is Chief Executive of UKSIF, driving the organisation’s objective of advancing sustainable investment and finance in the UK, and also serves as Chair of the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA), working to unlock the power of the worldwide financial services industry to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future.

James joined UKSIF in 2020 with a background in international climate finance and infrastructure finance as well as many years’ experience in leadership roles in membership organisations. Since then, UKSIF has grown substantially, now representing over 300 organisations, collectively managing over £19tn. He has also overseen the expansion of UKSIF’s communications, public affairs and events programmes, increasing the organisation’s capacity to influence decision makers, promote sustainable finance in the media, and facilitate industry collaboration.

James has represented UKSIF at Treasury and DWP select committees and is a member of multiple government and regulatory working groups. In August 2023, he was appointed Chair of the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, and he has also served as Treasurer of Eurosif, the European Sustainable Investment Forum. In November 2023, James was awarded Outstanding Individual Contribution to the ESG Investment Industry at the Clear Path Analysis ESG Investment Leader Awards.

Previously, James supported global megacities to overcome the substantial barriers to financing climate action as Director of the City Finance Programme at the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and Head of the C40 Cities Finance Facility – a project preparation facility he developed, now supporting cities across the world to structure nearly a billion dollars of sustainable infrastructure transactions. James has worked on international climate finance issues at the UN level and remains a member of the UN SDSN Global Commission for Urban SDG Finance, Chaired jointly by Jeffrey Sachs and the Mayors of Paris and Rio de Janeiro.