PIMFA Virtual Fest

John Philip Glen is a British Conservative Party politician and former management consultant who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Salisbury in Wiltshire since the 2010 general election. Formerly Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, he currently serves as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister.

Jo leads Nest Insight’s research programme, working collaboratively with partners across the sector to better understand the challenges facing savers on low to mid incomes, and to develop and test potential solutions to those challenges. Current projects include a trial of a hybrid ‘sidecar’ savings tool with six UK employers and a programme of work looking at how to help self-employed people save. She has over 15 years’ experience in social and commercial research across the public, private and third sectors and has led innovation work addressing a range of future opportunities in personal finance, pensions and beyond.

Alistair is a Managing Director and Head of EMEA Pensions and Retirement Strategy at State Street Global Advisors. He is responsible for thought leadership and product strategy for retirement and long-term savings markets across the EMEA region.

He works with State Street’s clients — DB and DC pension plans, platforms and intermediaries, and consultants — to help ensure good outcomes for their plan members and customers. Alistair is well known for his work on pensions and retirement issues, regularly publishing research, speaking at conferences and being quoted in the press.

Simon joined PIMFA in November 2017 as a Senior Policy Adviser with a focus on public policy and long term savings. He has previously worked at the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) and the Treasury in a variety of roles working on a number of issues including automatic enrolment, pension freedoms and the UK’s response to the financial crisis.

Simon has a strong interest in long term savings issues with a particular focus on overcoming behavioural barriers and the support structures that can be put in place in order to help and encourage a thriving savings culture in the UK.

Joel Lewis is the Consumer Policy Manager for Age UK. His work looks at older people’s interactions with essential service markets and how firms and regulators can best serve their needs and interests. Alongside exploring the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on older people’s finances, Joel has a particular interest in fraud prevention, tackling fuel poverty and the effect of the ageing mind on consumer decision-making.

Joel has a background in health and social care policy and quality improvement in mental health services.

Alex joined PIMFA in June 2017 as a Policy Adviser, where she works on a wide range of regulatory matters, engaging with policy makers and the regulator to promote members’ interests.

She previously worked for the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA) in the same capacity. APFA merged with the Wealth Management Association (WMA) to form PIMFA.

Alex has a legal background, having studied law at Cambridge University and was called to the Bar in 1997. She was a tenant at Lamb Chambers, Temple where she specialised in personal injury claims, contractual disputes and professional negligence. Alex has experience of advisory, drafting and court work including appearances in the Court of Appeal, the High Court and county courts.

Giulia is a Senior Policy Advisor working on a wide range of regulatory and strategy matters such as markets integrity, data protection and digital innovation both at UK and EU level.  She is also an active member of the International Regulatory Strategy Group and runs a number of PIMFA Committees and working groups.

Since joining PIMFA  (then known as the Wealth Management Association) in February 2015, Giulia has been actively advocating on behalf of the wealth management and financial advice industry with regulators and other government departments and bodies.

Giulia’s previous work experience includes advisory roles in a family office and an international law firm, as well as a short stint as insolvency specialist in her native Italy.

Giulia holds both Italian and English law degrees as well as a postgraduate degree in institutional relations.

Giulia is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments.

The Rt Hon the Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Nicky Morgan) is a former Conservative Minister having served in the Cabinets of David Cameron and Boris Johnson as, respectively, Education Secretary and Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary. She also chaired the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee for 2 years. She was the Member of Parliament for Loughborough between 2010 and 2019. Before being elected she worked as a solicitor specialising in M&A. She is now a member of the House of Lords.

Ryan’s journey with Royal London began back in 2008 after starting his career in compliance with Aviva. As an Investment Proposition Manager, Ryan learnt how to live and breathe Royal London’s Governed Range contributing to both its growth and development as well as speaking all things investment at adviser events. Ryan moved to Aberdeen Standard Investments in 2017 for a stint in the strategic client’s relationship team before a return to the Royal London adventure followed in October 2018 and becoming a senior business development manager focusing on pensions. Ryan holds the IMC qualification.

Des joined PIMFA (then known as the Wealth Management Association) in November 2017 as a Senior Policy Adviser with a focus on the financial planning and wealth management policy area.

He was previously a senior adjudicator at the Financial Ombudsman Service with wide ranging experience of all products but most recently across the pension product area.  He has also held roles at Irish Life Assurance, Scottish Mutual International and Bank of Ireland in Dublin.

Des holds a MSc in European Union policy from Birkbeck.

Julie has more than 30 years’ experience in Financial Services all of which has been gained within the Banking, Insurance and Advice/Wealth Sector.

Julie has held senior roles across Sales, Compliance, Operations and Training & Competence and for the last third of her career has acted as a consultant to the industry.  As a partner at the regulatory training & consultancy firm FSTP for over 4 years, Julie led on projects covering the Approved Persons Regime, Culture, Senior Management Responsibilities, Regulatory Interview Preparation, S166 Remediation Projects, Training & Competence, Conduct Risk and Treating Customers Fairly to name but a few.

Having spent the last 3½ years at Worksmart, Julie has focused heavily on assisting organisations implement their responsibilities under the Senior Managers & Certification Regime.

Julie undertakes work on SM&CR, Culture & Conduct and its application for a range of Trade Bodies in the UK such as UK Finance (formerly British Banking Association), The Investment Association, The Finance and Leasing Association and the Credit Services Association and historically has worked with their members in open settings and on in-house projects across this particular topic.

Leading the regulatory & market engagement approach for Worksmart, Julie is focused on helping develop and deliver products that not only assist firms in meeting their regulatory obligations but also ensuring that they drive business benefits within the firms.

Nic is an expert in People and Performance Management with over 11 years’ experience of advising on IT-based business solutions at board level to the UK’s financial services industry. He has worked with many of the UKs most recognised financial services brands to deliver flexible and impactful software solutions. Nic is a specialist in the Senior Managers Regime; Regulatory Compliance; Conduct Risk Management and Training & Competence. He is also an authority in Quality Assurance; Complaint Management & Customer Feedback systems and Treating Customers Fairly. Nic is an advocate of the need to focus on managing individual competence and cultural conduct when targeting tangible real-world performance benefits and productivity gains.

Emma is Business Development Manager at Worksmart and has been involved in some 30 SMCR and Training and Competence systems implementations.  After spending a number of years as a Mortgage and Investment Adviser in her early career, for the past 20 years she has put her experience to use in understanding the challenges faced by Financial Services firms and providing solutions that deliver real business benefit.

Des joined PIMFA (then known as the Wealth Management Association) in November 2017 as a Senior Policy Adviser with a focus on the financial planning and wealth management policy area.

He was previously a senior adjudicator at the Financial Ombudsman Service with wide ranging experience of all products but most recently across the pension product area.  He has also held roles at Irish Life Assurance, Scottish Mutual International and Bank of Ireland in Dublin.

Des holds a MSc in European Union policy from Birkbeck.

Professor Michael Mainelli FCCA Chartered FCSI(Hon) FBCS co-founded Z/Yen, the City of London’s leading commercial think-tank and venture firm, in 1994 to promote societal advance through better finance and technology. Z/Yen boasts a core team of respected professionals as well as numerous associates, and is well-capitalised due to successful spin-outs and ventures.

A qualified accountant, securities professional, computer specialist and management consultant, educated at Harvard University and Trinity College Dublin, Michael gained his PhD at London School of Economics where he was also a Visiting Professor. His PhD was on the application of risk/reward methodologies involving chaotic systems. Michael’s career summary is a decade of technology research, followed by a decade in finance, then two decades at Z/Yen.

Michael’s early scientific research in aerospace (rocket science) and computer graphics led to him starting Swiss companies in seismology, cartography and energy information. Michael spent seven years as a senior partner and board member of the leading accountancy firm, BDO Binder Hamlyn, directing global consulting projects. Michael served as a Director of Europe’s largest R&D organisation (DERA) leading to two privatisations.

Michael is a financial geographer with research interests in the geo-politics and geo-economics of capital market investments. In particular, his work focuses on the asset management industry, institutional investors, and sustainable finance. His research straddles the frontiers of several disciplines including geography, financial economics, management studies and public administration.

Prior to his graduate studies, Michael worked for the private bank Pictet & Cie overseeing and developing their in-house mutual funds in emerging markets and thematic markets including Socially Responsible Investments (SRI).

Michael holds a BSc in Management from HEC Lausanne, an MSc in Environment, Politics and Globalisation from King’s College London, and a DPhil in Economic Geography from Oxford University. Using econometrics and close-dialogue, his doctoral thesis explored financial disintermediation as a means to improve the funding of retirement systems. At a theoretical level, it proposed to untangle the seeming paradox of the unprecedented agglomeration of financial institutions around financial centres and the increasing virtualisation of their tasks and functions.

Des joined PIMFA (then known as the Wealth Management Association) in November 2017 as a Senior Policy Adviser with a focus on the financial planning and wealth management policy area.

He was previously a senior adjudicator at the Financial Ombudsman Service with wide ranging experience of all products but most recently across the pension product area.  He has also held roles at Irish Life Assurance, Scottish Mutual International and Bank of Ireland in Dublin.

Des holds a MSc in European Union policy from Birkbeck.

Tim is Director of Government Relations and Policy. Tim held numerous roles in banking and public affairs at Barclays Bank before moving to Prudential where he spent 11 years becoming Director of Public Affairs and Head of the Group Chairman’s Office.

His experience spans wealth management, insurance, banking and financial advice, the latter developed during RDR and FAMR. In his spare time he likes to visit galleries, go to the theatre and is a trustee of TfAC, an international aid charity.

Philip is a board level Asset Management Executive, Chief Risk Officer and an industry leader in risk management. He has built and transformed several risk functions. Philip focuses on ensuring that Risk is driving the business forward by embedding a strong commercial sense of the right risk and return trade-off , alongside a robust control and governance process. He enjoys driving change through an organisation, via risk management and more broadly as an executive within the business. Philip has led successful Cultural Change programmes in more than one organisation.

Adam joined Brown Shipley as Head of Operational Risk in July 2017 from BNP Paribas where he held a number of senior positions during his 10 years with the bank.  These included CRO Wealth Management UK Branch and Global Head of Capital Markets P&L Controls.  Adam started his career with Morgan Stanley and has over 20 years’ financial services experience across Global Markets, International Private Banking and Wealth Management in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Giulia is a Senior Policy Advisor working on a wide range of regulatory and strategy matters such as markets integrity, data protection and digital innovation both at UK and EU level.  She is also an active member of the International Regulatory Strategy Group and runs a number of PIMFA Committees and working groups.

Since joining PIMFA  (then known as the Wealth Management Association) in February 2015, Giulia has been actively advocating on behalf of the wealth management and financial advice industry with regulators and other government departments and bodies.

Giulia’s previous work experience includes advisory roles in a family office and an international law firm, as well as a short stint as insolvency specialist in her native Italy.

Giulia holds both Italian and English law degrees as well as a postgraduate degree in institutional relations.

Giulia is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments.

Kevin Sloane has worked in financial services for over 40 years.
His areas of interest and expertise are wealth management operations and technology.

Kevin is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment and is a member of the CISI’s Wealth Management Forum Committee.

Steve Webb was Minister of State for Pensions between 2010 and 2015, the longest-serving holder of the post.   During that time he implemented major reforms to the state pension system, oversaw the successful introduction of automatic enrolment and played a key role in the new pension freedoms implemented in April 2015.

Steve was a Liberal Democrat MP from 1997 to 2015.  Before this he was professor of social policy at Bath University for two years, having previously worked for nine years as an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.  Steve graduated with a first class honours degree in PPE from Oxford University in 1986.  He received a knighthood in the 2017 New Year’s Honours for political and public service.

From 2015-2020 he was Director of Policy at mutual insurer Royal London and he is now a partner at actuarial consultants Lane Clark & Peacock.

Gregg joined B&CE, the provider of The People’s Pension, in July 2018. Gregg is the co-author of three volumes on global pension system design, Towards a new pensions settlement: the international experience (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016, 2018, 2020) and two short studies of UK system design Pensions at Work that Work (2013) and Pensions People Can Trust (2012).

Gregg was Shadow Minister of State for Pensions 2011-2015 and a MP 2010-15. He was a member of the Prime Minister’s Commission on Further Devolution to Scotland in 2014. His first career was as an academic; Gregg was a Fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford, where he taught history and is currently a Visiting Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.

Simon joined PIMFA in November 2017 as a Senior Policy Adviser with a focus on public policy and long term savings. He has previously worked at the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) and the Treasury in a variety of roles working on a number of issues including automatic enrolment, pension freedoms and the UK’s response to the financial crisis.

Simon has a strong interest in long term savings issues with a particular focus on overcoming behavioural barriers and the support structures that can be put in place in order to help and encourage a thriving savings culture in the UK.

Haider Mannan is a regulatory data specialist at SIX. He covers a range of regulatory topics affecting the investment process, to help firms achieve compliance through value-added services from SIX. Haider is also a keen researcher and is currently analysing the integration of ESG data in sustainable investing.

Haider has worked on alpha generation, risk and regulatory programmes over the last decade, with an emphasis on big data and data management. His experience as a subject matter expert and consultant has included assignments both in the buy- and sell-side at firms such as Allianz, Standard & Poor’s, Strategy & and Wilshire Associates among others.

Nick is Head of Information Technology for Saunderson House, an award-winning independent firm of wealth managers focused on private clients.  Nick plays a leading role in defining and supporting the business lead technology strategies across the organisation.  He has 20 years’ experience working within financial services in roles within technology, operations and client advice at firms including Jupiter Asset Management and BDO LLP.

As Head of IT and CISO Jon has more than 34 years’ experience in the IT industry and held numerous IT positions since starting his career programming mainframe computer systems in the 1980s. He has directed the IT department for JM Finn, an established wealth management organisation for more than 20 years.

Jon is a technical leader and security specialist with extensive experience delivering transformative security solutions. Jon has a passion for IT Security and is risk focused, understanding the bigger picture, delivering secure business objectives through a grasp of broad industry trends and new technologies.

Jon holds numerous industry recognised cyber security certifications including CISSP, CISM, C|CISO, CEH, CHFI and MBCI. He returned to academia in 2016 obtaining a Master’s Degree (with Distinction) in Cyber Security and is currently working towards a PhD in a cyber-security related subject.

Giulia is a Senior Policy Advisor working on a wide range of regulatory and strategy matters such as markets integrity, data protection and digital innovation both at UK and EU level.  She is also an active member of the International Regulatory Strategy Group and runs a number of PIMFA Committees and working groups.

Since joining PIMFA  (then known as the Wealth Management Association) in February 2015, Giulia has been actively advocating on behalf of the wealth management and financial advice industry with regulators and other government departments and bodies.

Giulia’s previous work experience includes advisory roles in a family office and an international law firm, as well as a short stint as insolvency specialist in her native Italy.

Giulia holds both Italian and English law degrees as well as a postgraduate degree in institutional relations.

Giulia is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments.

Gerbrand Haverkamp is the Executive Director of World Benchmarking Alliance, a non-profit bringing together investors, NGO’s, business platforms, governments and existing disclosure standards to develop free and publicly available benchmarks that rank companies on their contribution to the SDGs.

He originally founded Index Initiative, one of WBA’s founding partners, and prior to this he worked for the Dutch Government in the areas of inclusive business, sustainable agricultural supply chains and food security.

Des joined PIMFA (then known as the Wealth Management Association) in November 2017 as a Senior Policy Adviser with a focus on the financial planning and wealth management policy area.

He was previously a senior adjudicator at the Financial Ombudsman Service with wide ranging experience of all products but most recently across the pension product area.  He has also held roles at Irish Life Assurance, Scottish Mutual International and Bank of Ireland in Dublin.

Des holds a MSc in European Union policy from Birkbeck.

Movement Specialist, leading exponent of Physical Intelligence, and co-author of Physical Intelligence (Simon & Schuster, 2019), Claire Dale successfully coaches and trains from board level down to newly hired employees to help them achieve peak performance through Physical Intelligence.

​With a background in Contemporary dance, Claire led her own dance company to European critical acclaim during the 1990s representing Great Britain in a number of high profile Contemporary dance seasons. Claire has also created works for Sir Paul McCartney, Alsop Architects, CandoCo and L’Oreal as well as working on many theatre productions.

Developing and leading high profile projects in the arts enabled Claire to develop her own leadership skills through engaging stakeholders in meeting their agendas, bringing together teams of talented artists, inspiring them about the project and motivating them to reach the deadline of opening night. That experience inspired her to develop the concept of Physical Intelligence, using her knowledge of the body to support peak performance in Leadership Development and ultimately across all levels of the organisation.

​Claire integrated her Physical Intelligence experience into the world of business by joining the elite team of business coaches at RADA and launching Companies in Motion in 2002 to carry forward her passion for and work with Physical Intelligence. Claire fully understands both the science and art of the human body and how business works. Her highly charismatic coaching, facilitation and guest speaker skills have engaged individuals and training audiences at National Express, Sony, Bank of New York Mellon, BAE, SAGE, Coca Cola, J.P.Morgan, Mars, Euroclear, Vygon and Hogg Robinson Group.  Claire also has contributed to a variety of articles and BBC television and radio interviews on the topic of Physical Intelligence.

Claire holds a BA Honours degree in Dance Theatre from the leading dance school, Trinity Laban.

Co-author of Physical Intelligence (Simon & Schuster, 2019), Pat has over 25 years of experience in consulting and the design and delivery of customised training solutions, having served as Training Manager for Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, Director of Communications for a leading human resources and organisational development consulting firm, and Senior Consultant, VP, SVP and Chief Design Officer for Richardson (a top sales, service and leadership training firm) before establishing her own leadership and sales consultancy, Sphere International. She has partnered with world class (Fortune 500 / FTSE 100) organisations to support them in achieving performance improvement across multiple level audiences, diverse industries, global theatres and cultures and via multiple delivery platforms. For Companies in Motion, she has designed Physical Intelligence programs for organisation such as Bank of New York Mellon, BAE, J.P.Morgan, Mars, Euroclear, Vygon and Hogg Robinson Group and contributed to a variety of articles and BBC television and radio interviews.

Pat’s exceptional communication and analytical skills, combined with her business acumen, enable her to quickly diagnose organisational challenges, design solutions to address those challenges, and help clients successfully implement solutions that create sustained behaviour change.

​Pat’s consulting services and training design have helped hundreds of clients globally to establish sales, service, and coaching cultures, significantly increasing revenue, customer satisfaction, employee retention and profitability. Pat’s broad client experience has included Cisco, Facebook, Google, WeWork, Hewlett Packard, VMware, Johnson & Johnson, Mars, Sanofi-Aventis, Eisai, SOLTA, Somanetics, Goldman Sachs, J.P.Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Invesco, Credit Suisse, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Marsh, Allianz, Met Life, Liberty Mutual, Tiffany and Co, Shell Oil and Novozymes.

Pat is expert at creating ground-up processes and content and integrating existing processes and content into solutions, creating experiential development programs for all levels of experience. Her design experience includes instructor led, self paced, case study based, classroom, web based, eLearning and blended solutions.

Pat has a degree in Organisational Behaviour from Emerson College in Boston MA, and has completed postgraduate work in organisational communication and international business.

Having led learning teams at the Institute of Risk Management, The British Bankers Association and most recently at UK Finance where he developed learning academies on Vulnerability, Financial Crime and Conduct & Culture, Philip is considered a leading authority in L&D within financial services. At PIMFA, Philip’s responsibility is to design and deliver a suite of innovative learning solutions that not only support members to meet their regulatory obligations but help them develop the skills and talents their staff need to take advantage of digital transformation. A qualified trainer, Philip was awarded Fellowship of The Learning Performance Institute in 2018.