Consultant Conference
What To Expect
Adapt to Thrive
“This time is different” – An old adage in finance that goes back decades. But have we now reached a true paradigm shift in the industry or is that inflection point still to come? Are we confident in the range of outcomes this presents? And what does this mean for asset managers? A regime change in markets has altered the horizons of all participants, affecting end game planning, funding levels, and asset allocation. This conference will explore how this tectonic shift has affected investment consultants, their business models, what they plan to do in future, and what challenges and opportunities this presents for the asset management community. Adapt to thrive, or head down and don’t look up? Be at the forefront of industry thinking with a discussion on our 2023 Key Investor Trends Survey by a panel of leading names in the consulting community. Hear ‘lighting talks’ on critical issues of focus for asset owners and their advisors, including biodiversity and the latest DB end game positioning. Please join us on the 23rd March for an interactive set of discussions and, the ever favourite, hot tabling sessions.
Agenda
Speakers
Steve Budge
Partner, DC Investment Consulting at LCP
I have worked in the pensions industry focusing on defined contribution plans for over 20 years and feel privileged to be helping schemes and sponsoring companies to further develop their approach to pension savings for their members and employees. I joined LCP at an unprecedented time, where trustee and member support is paramount and I am very pleased to have joined an organisation fully focused on supporting their clients and their members. My role is to lead the future development of their DC investment proposition and research, while continuing with client advisory work to help support the fast growing LCP DC client base. I left Mercer in May 2020 just short of five years where I had the pleasure (and consulting challenge) of leading our advice and advisory projects to a number of Mercer’s largest and most important DC arrangements, including the largest master trust in the UK. We picked up seven industry awards during my time there which included two at the Professional Pensions 2018 awards for innovation covering our work on private market access, new transition techniques and billion pound change projects. In my previous role, I was Head of DC Investment Advisory at KPMG Pensions and led the DC Investment team, managing the research, client work and pitch opportunities. Prior to KPMG, I worked at Aon Hewitt, originally starting out in Bacon & Woodrow’s investment practice. I am an active contributor to the development of DC in the industry [when time allows] and am involved in a number of organisations and taskforces which share the same ambition of improving member outcomes. This includes working with the DCIF on their Advisory Committee and also broader industry roles such as the consultant input to the Patient Capital initiative work with HM Treasury.
Faye Clark
Head of Manager Research, XPS
Faye is Head of Manager Research and part of the Investment Committee at XPS, responsible for fund manager research and ratings across all asset classes.
Faye was previously at Isio for 12 years as a Senior Investment Consultant where she headed the Fiduciary Management research team. Faye also sits on the I&D Committee at XPS and is part of the Diversity Project.
Neil Davies
Partner, Investment Consulting at Barnett Waddingham
Marieke de Roo
Principal at Mercer
Marieke is a Principal in Mercer’s investments business based in London. Marieke works with European wealth management and family office organisations as a senior client director and is responsible for European business development for the wealth management client segment.
Marieke has over 20 years of experience in investment services and joined Mercer in December 2013. She works with regional offices throughout Europe to drive Mercer’s revenue growth within the Wealth Management industry. She also manages a book of European and global private wealth management clients as their senior client director. Solutions provided to the clients range from providing professional advisory services such as investment and operational due diligence on 3rd party funds, strategic asset allocation advice, investment solutions across Equities, Fixed Income, Diversifying Alternatives and Private Markets.
Before joining Mercer, she worked at Standard & Poor’s for 15 years, starting in Paris and then moving to London, where she was responsible for the European sales and account management strategy for the fund ratings and fund research business. Marieke graduated with a Master’s degree in International Organisations from the University of Groningen in 1996 and is fluent in Dutch, French, German and Spanish.
Tara Gillespie
Head of Global Assets at Redington
Jonathan Hanford
Senior DC Investment Consultant at Aon
Nick Horsfal
Managing Director, Investment Consulting at Redington
Nick is fascinated by assets, risk, returns, economics and stats. They are ever-evolving challenges, and helping clients navigate those challenges is a joy. He has over 30 years’ experience in the Investment Industry, focusing on strategy and risk management. His specialisation for most of that period has been risk management, primarily through managing and hedging interest rate, inflation, credit, and longevity risk. Nick’s view is that bad risk management can destroy a journey plan, but good risk management provides the framework for financial security and a base on which to build real long term sustainable value.
Hannah Long
Principle, DC Investment Consultant
I am currently leading colleagues at Mercer across the South West across all our lines of business; Health, Wealth and Career. This means working with colleagues to truly be #OneMercer in our culture, opportunities and understanding. This works hand-in-hand with my role within our Wealth Business, as the Regional People Leader for our North & Midlands offices, where I focus on the development of our people across all areas of Wealth - including DB and DC pensions, advisory and delegated solutions and Endowments and Foundations.
In addition, I work with a portfolio of clients on their DC Schemes with assets up to £3bn, particularly with their investment requirements. Focusing on balancing strategy with engagement is a huge interest of mine!
I head up the DC Higher Education Team, thinking about how we help support Higher Education institutions to design their pensions and benefits offering today and into the future. Any transition of arrangements or setting up of new offerings is a crucial time for any company, and I have extensive experience across this sector, and more widely with other institutions.
Celine Legaspi
Vice President Manager Research at Redington
Celine is a proactive and gregarious professional striving to catalyse real-world impact via the responsible mobilisation of institutional capital. Versatile, pragmatic, and a critical thinker – a valuable asset to fast-paced, results-oriented teams and projects.
Currently working as a Manager Researcher at investment consultancy, Redington, with a specialism in sustainable/impact investment and private markets. In this role, Celine is responsible for critically assessing, selecting, and monitoring fund managers, researching emerging impact asset classes, and engaging with asset managers and clients (asset owners) on their sustainable investment efforts.
With keen interests in sustainable finance, private markets, and stewardship.
Nick Samuels
Head of Manager Research, Redington
Nick is Head of Manager Research at investment consultancy Redington, where he leads a talented, diverse 25-person team who help institutional and wealth management clients around the world allocate to the funds that get them closer to their strategic goals. Nick is a voting member of Redington’s Investment Strategy Committee and works directly with several of the firm’s clients in the UK and Europe. A large part of his role is to engage with the asset management community to push for improvements in their efforts on Sustainability, Inclusion & Diversity and a host of other matters. He is a judge of the Citywire Gender Diversity Awards and is a regular commentator in industry press on such topics.
Nick began his investment career in 2000 at Schroders, where he worked on the Asia and Emerging Market equity teams, before moving into manager research roles at investment consultancy Stamford Associates, South African multi-manager Momentum Global Investment Management and US multi-manager SEI Investments.
Nicolas Self
Senior Investment Consultant at Mercer
Nick delivers investment advice to trustee and corporate clients on schemes with assets ranging from £350m to £7bn. Nick advises his clients on all aspects of investments with particular focus on strategic asset allocation and journey planning. He has been at Mercer for 15 years.
Examples of Nick’s relevant experience include:
Risk transfer transactions:
Lead corporate investment advice in relation to c£4.5bn of buy-ins over 2022, including the transition of assets to a new investment manager and the striking of a price lock during the gilt crisis. Lead the investment advice on 6 buy-in transactions over 2020, including the first use of an Assured Payment Policy, a new solution developed by L&G to provide increased certainty of reaching full buy-in over a planned timeframe.
Long-term strategy: Currently working with a Trustee and Company to devise and formalise a “run-on” solution, whereby Scheme surplus is used to meet other Scheme expenditures and needs. This is viewed as a long term alternative to buy-out. Have also worked with trustees and joint working parties in the past to assess the merits of a “do-it-yourself” buy-in versus a conventional insurance-based solution.
Re-risking negotiations: Assisting the Trustee in re-risking negotiations with the Sponsor.
Qualification
Nick has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Bristol; Master’s degree in Actuarial Finance from Imperial University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.
Paul Whelan
Co-Head of Global Fixed Income Manager Research, Aon
Paul is Co-Head of Global Fixed Income Manager research at Aon, based in the UK. He is responsible for covering the full spectrum of fixed income asset classes.
Paul is an active member of the UK Fixed Income Views team, working to expand the breadth of the team's output, formulating appropriate scheme hedging levels and informing the advice we give to clients on managing their liabilities. Paul also works closely with Aon's global fiduciary business, Delegated Consulting Services, shaping market-leading fixed income solutions covering liability hedging and return seeking opportunities. Paul represents the UK manager research team on the UK Content Committee team helping drive forwards the creation and marketing of innovative new ideas to the UK client base and beyond.
Paul joined Aon in November 2012 after more than 10 years in asset management with Aviva Investors, Henderson and UBS. He has worked in the strategy setting and management of fixed income portfolios for his entire career managing a variety of long-only and absolute return mandates across the fixed income universe. Paul holds a 1st Class Honours degree in Economics from the University of Bath. Paul is a CFA charterholder.
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