Net Zero Investor’s Defined Contribution Forum 2025

Nico is a sustainability advocate, focused on communicating Newton’s approach to responsible investment and sustainability both internally and externally. Nico joined Newton in July 2023 and has previously held several roles in pensions investment for consultants, asset owners and asset managers, including being the first chief investment officer of The People’s Pension, a leading UK defined contribution (DC) master trust.

Nico holds a Master’s degree in Natural Sciences specialising in Theoretical Physics from the University of Cambridge and is a qualified actuary.

Nico volunteers extensively for the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, contributes to research papers, and is currently the deputy chair of the Institute’s Finance and Investment Board.

In his free time, Nico co-hosts VFM pensions, a podcast about DC pensions.

Jonathan has worked in the workplace pensions and savings industry for over 20 years.  He is currently a Managing Director at Gallagher and Head of the DC.

Prior to joining Gallagher, Jonathan held senior positions in pensions (Head of Investment Strategy for Zurich Corporate Savings), consulting (senior consultant for Willis Towers Watson) and asset management (Head of EMEA DC for Dimensional Fund Advisors).    

In addition to his role at Redington, Jonathan is an independent trustee on Aviva’s Master Trust, a position he has held for 5 years.  He also chairs the Investment Committee and is a member of the Audit & Risk Committee.

Jonathan is CFA charterholder (2005) and holds the Diploma in Financial Planning.  He graduated from Bristol University with a BA (Hons) in Ancient History.

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.

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

As UK Head of RI Craig leads Aon’s advice on all ESG-related strategic and implementation considerations, as well as speaking at conferences including Aon’s flagship annual pensions events and being named “Sustainability Actuary of the Year” at the 2021 Actuarial Post Awards. He has helped Aon’s largest clients develop their approach to climate reporting in line with the TCFD recommendations, and to then set and deliver on ESG-related priorities and objectives. With parents from the Seychelles and Scotland, Craig is a proud member of Aon’s Multicultural Network and supporter of the Network’s “Book Club”, actively promoting D, E, and I. Craig grew up in Kenya and in Scotland and has since settled in the Midlands with his wife and two boys. He is an Associate of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and in his spare time is a keen runner, squash, and touch rugby player.

Drew leads LCP’s responsible investment advice to DC clients, which includes advising some of the largest pension schemes in the country, as well as DC pension providers, on all aspects of their responsible investment strategy. This includes some of the first schemes to give their members exposure to private markets through an LTAF.

As a senior researcher at LCP, Drew is also deeply involved in assessing new investment products as they come to market, particularly where these might help investors to meet responsible investment objectives. As part of this, he designed LCP’s framework for assessing funds that invest at the nature interface. He also works closely with LCP Delta, LCP’s energy transition consultancy business, to help trustees and other asset owners to understand the risks and opportunities associated with the transition.

Richard Folland has been Carbon Tracker’s policy and government affairs adviser since 2014 and in 2023 joined as the Head of Policy and Engagement. Richard has over 30 years’ experience as a diplomat and advocate, operating at the highest level, based in Europe and elsewhere. He has worked on the climate and energy agenda, as a policymaker and as a private sector advisor, for 15 years. A former head of international energy policy at the UK Foreign Office, Richard has also been JPMorgan’s European Advisor on Energy and Climate Change, the Executive Director of the Climate Markets and Investment Association (CMIA), and the Head of Energy and Environment at Inline Policy. He was Co-Founder of the strategic advisory firm, Sustineri, working with institutional investors on climate and sustainability issues.

Therese is responsible for the strategic vision and delivery of sustainability across the wider investment platform at Newton. This includes working with the investment teams to ensure that ESG matters are fully integrated into the fundamental investment philosophy as well as continuous innovation around sustainability solutions. Therese is responsible for the wider Responsible Investment (RI) team which supports the investment platform through work across areas including ESG research, stewardship and ESG data and technology. In her role, Therese is the Chair of the NIM NIMNA Sustainability Committee.
Therese started her career as an ESG Analyst to then joining Threadneedle Asset Management as Head of Governance and Responsible Investment in 2007. In 2011, Therese joined Ninety One (formerly Investec Asset Management) where she spent over a decade developing their sustainability investment platform. Therese holds degrees from the London School of Economics and Oxford University in the field of Environmental Management and Policy. As a native Swede, Therese enjoys the outdoors and spends as much free time as possible along the Scandinavian coastlines.

Martyn James is the Director of Investment for now:pensions, the UK master trust provider.

Martyn is responsible for leading the investment strategy for the business, with a focus on improving returns and retirement outcomes for its members whilst ensuring the portfolio has a real-world impact on creating a sustainable future for its members.  He is an advocate of making sure the scheme assets are stewarded in a way to help progress the transition to net-zero by 2050.

Martyn joined now:pensions in April 2024.  Prior to joining now:pensions, Martyn spent 22 years at Mercer, most recently as a Partner within Mercer’s UK DC business, but also with a recent two and a half year secondment leading Mercer’s Wealth (Pensions and Investments) business in Latin America.

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. 

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.

Evan Klironomos is an Investment Proposition Manager at Aviva, playing a key role in ongoing efforts to enhance Aviva’s suite of Workplace default investment strategies. Before joining Aviva, Evan spent several years as an investment consultant to trustees and sponsors of occupational pension schemes in both Australia and the UK. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder.

Zoe is an entrepreneur and deep tech fund manager focusing on step change technologies for a sustainable planet. She heads the venture capital strategy at Octopus Energy Generation, who is one of Europe’s largest investors in green energy. Previously, Zoe has managed and launched venture funds for the University of Oxford, Imperial College, Development Bank of Wales and Octopus Capital. A volcanologist and atmospheric modeller by background, Zoe focuses on financing and growing companies that will have a meaningful impact on achieving net zero by 2050.

Responsibilities at Schroders Capital

Paul Lamacraft covers Schroders Capital Private Equity investment activities in Europe and is Head of Sustainability & Impact. Paul has a particular focus on opportunities in the UK and Europe and has passion for Sustainability & Impact. He has recently launched and now manages the Schroders Capital Circular Economy Private Plus, Semi-Liquid Fund, a global private equity strategy investing into positive impact investments with attractive return expectations and also manages the private equity component of several other private markets impact portfolios. He is also very keen to continue the work to expand the private equity asset class to a wider range of investors.

Background

Before joining Schroders in 2020, Paul worked for 8 years in private equity and public markets investing with an emphasis on direct venture and growth equity transactions. Prior to this Paul spent over 12 years advising companies in their private equity fundraising and M&A activities, including 5 years at Deutsche Bank. Paul started his career at EY where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Education

Paul is a qualified ACA and holds a BSc in Economics & Accounting from the University of Bristol, UK.

Roger Breeden joined BESTrustees in 2021 and specialises in workplace Defined Contribution and Master Trust pension schemes.

Roger’s financial services experience spans more than 40 years, the majority of which was with Mercer where most recently as a Partner he led the launch and successful authorisation of a Master Trust establishing operational and governance systems and processes.

Roger started his career as a personal financial adviser which provided him with day to day experience of the needs of pension scheme members while both building and drawing down on their savings. His current appointments include a leading Master Trust and Independent Governance Committee.

Roger is a fully accredited professional trustee with the APPT and also outside of Pensions, Roger is a Non Exec Director and Chairperson of a not for profit company that helps people with a learning disability to lead independent lives.

Specialist areas: Defined Contribution and Master Trust; Independent Governance Committees.

Veronica Humble leads NatWest Cushon’s investment function. Prior to this role she was Head of DC Investments at Legal and General Investment Management and held a number of roles across LGIM’s Investments and Distribution before that. She started her career as a quantitative analyst in Phoenix Group. She has MSc in mathematics and a PhD in statistics.

Leanne is a responsible investment expert with 14 years’ experience, and 25 years working in sustainable development more broadly. As Head of Responsible Investment, her role is to assist the investment team in integrating environmental, social, governance and stewardship considerations into our investment process.  In any discussion, Leanne brings to life the impact that such policies have on savers’ pension funds, notably with respect to addressing industry challenges to effective stewardship. 

Samantha Chew is Stewardship Lead in the Investment Proposition team at Aegon UK, a long-term pension provider, where she contributes to their responsible investment practices. Samantha has almost a decade of experience as a board and company adviser and is a subject matter expert on corporate governance and sustainable finance. She is also a chartered accountant and called to the Bar of England and Wales.

Tom Sanders is a Senior ESG Analyst at Nest. Tom joined Nest in 2022 having previously worked for ISAM, a quantitative fund manager. Tom focusses primarily on research and analysis of ESG issues, leads Nest’s proxy voting efforts, and engages with companies on key social issues directly and with some of Nest’s member industry initiatives.