2025 AGENDA

Ali Karakuyu is a seasoned expert with 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, working in BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking’s (CIB) Insurance Debt Advisory team. Ali is part of the broader Advisory division under BBVA’s CIB Investment Banking & Finance business covering a broad range of (re)insurance companies across Europe and Bermuda.

At BBVA (CIB) Ali helps (re)insurers to optimise their capital structure and funding solutions keeping in mind the expectations of regulators, shareholders, ratings agencies and other key stakeholders. 

Previously, Ali held a key role at S&P Global Ratings in the UK as Director and Lead Analyst in the insurance practice, where he was the global analytical lead for the firm’s insurance capital model criteria and contributed significantly to the development of  insurance rating methodologies. Prior to that Ali held various actuarial roles including the U.K. Government Actuary’s Department.

William Arrata is an Asset & Liability Manager at Banque de France’s Financial Directorate. He is in charge of devising optimal investment strategies, in EURO and currencies, for Banque de France non monetary policy investment portfolios. Before that, he worked at the Reserves Management Division, actively managing an AFS portfolio of bonds, money market securities and fixed income derivatives. He also started the Quantitative Easing Programme for Banque de France. He has been teaching for more than 10 years Quantitative Portfolio Management at ESSEC Business school’s Master in Finance in France, and he occasionally publishes on topics related to monetary policy in the euro area. He is an Associate Actuary and CFA Charterholder.

Nermin Nalic works in Group Treasury & Capital Management at Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), where he is driving the development of the Group’s capital management framework. With nearly a decade of experience in the insurance industry and a solid background in finance, risk management and asset management, he focuses on capital allocation, liquidity planning, and its alignment with internal and external requirements. Nermin holds a Master of Science in finance and accounting from the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Andrew Putwain is the Managing Editor of Clear Path Analysis’s two market website Insurance-Investor.com and FundOperator.com. He joined the company in early 2022, and prior to that was an oil market journalist for I.C.I.S, part of Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions Group, focusing on the Middle Eastern/North Africa and CIS regions. Other previous roles include Editor at Reactions, part of Euromoney, and on the editorial team at Axco Insurance Information Services. He has also had positions at NS Media, HennikGroup, The Institute of Civil Engineers Publishing and ESG Investor

Drew Price is the Head of Capital Reporting & Analytics at Swiss Re, where he oversees all aspects of capital reporting for the group. With over three decades of experience in the financial sector, Drew has led teams in developing and implementing advanced financial systems, improving control environments, and accounting for complex transactions. His recent work includes designing a comprehensive application for collecting and managing capital positions.

Matthew joined M&G Investments in September 2006 on the Fixed Income graduate rotation program and began working on the ABS portfolio management desk in September 2007. 
Matthew is the primary portfolio manager on the team’s flagship pooled high grade fund as well as a number of other segregated mandates and funds in the investment grade ABS space and also supports other members of the team on non-investment grade portfolios.
Matthew has a BSc in Economics from the University of York and is a CFA Charterholder.

Dipesh is an experienced manager that focuses on solutions spanning multiple investment products. He is the primary Fund Manager of the M&G (Lux) Sterling Liquidity Fund and also provides liquidity and short term funding solutions and advice to internal clients on physical credit. Dipesh also covers various aspects of foreign exchange, cash and collateral and has previous experience of market execution. Dipesh joined the business in 2005 as a graduate and has been with the team since 2010. He is a CFA Charterholder.

Chris is a senior advisor to AlphaReal, the secure income asset manager and also a consultant to a number of UK infrastructure and social housing investors. He was previously Head of Illiquid Assets Origination at Phoenix Group plc, before that Head of Market Risk, Credit at Swiss Reinsurance (where he was also CIO and trustee of the UK Pension Fund) and a credit portfolio manager at Legal & General, Old Mutual Asset Managers and Allied Irish Banks. 

Chris is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and a fellow of the London Institute of Banking & Finance. He is Chair of Sporting Wellness, a charity that supports young sportsmen and sportswomen across the UK.

Rob Knight is a consulting Managing Director who specialises in operations and regulations. She is also a NED on the Board of East London Business Alliance and special advisor to two California based start-ups. Rob’s unique professional background spans successful leadership roles within large international businesses, leading teams in Asia, Europe, India, UK and USA. She was Head of Global Business Services at Barings (subsidiary of MassMutual), sitting on the firm’s  Operations Leadership Team, Pricing Committee and Client Asset Oversight Working Group. Her global teams supported investment strategies for USD 280B+ of private and public assets. She has a keen interest in automation and data science to create more efficient and scalable workflows. 

Rob served as Chairperson for the UK Investment Association’s Trade & Transaction reporting Committee until 2022, where she contributed to engagement with European and UK regulators. Prior to joining Barings, Rob led the fiduciary management team for Citigroup – Asset Management Unit in London.

In 2007 Rob co-founded the award-winning Barings’ See The Possibilities student programme for university and college students. This program introduces students to the financial services industry, while opening doors to entry level Analyst roles. 

She holds a MBA, the CFA UK: Investment Management Certificate, and is a member of the Chartered Governance Institute

Hua Chai is an Investment Manager on the Alternative Investment Solutions team at Aberdeen Investments. He leads Systematic Solutions and is a portfolio manager for the Aberdeen Investments Eclipse hedge fund index range. Prior to joining Aberdeen Investments in 2019, Chai worked as a quantitative trader and analyst at a London-based quantitative hedge fund.  Chai has a BSc in Mathematics and an MSc in Finance from the University of Bath, and a Masters in Finance from the London Business School. He is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).

Mark Clacy-Jones is Head of Real Estate Strategy at Aberdeen, responsible for a small team producing, guiding and facilitating optimal fund level strategy across the global suite of abrdn Real Estate funds. This role also focuses on understanding the performance drivers of funds and their risk levels. Prior to joining Standard Life Investments in January 2017, Mark spent 9 years at IPD, and subsequently MSCI, working in a range of global research roles including Head of Indices and ultimately Head of Applied Real Estate Research. Mark also had a brief spell setting up a Data & Analytics function for Knight Frank’s Research Team just prior to joining SLI.

 A former Chair of the Society of Property Researchers, Mark is currently Chair of the AREF Research Committee and Chair of the INREV ODCE Working Group.

 Mark holds a BA Economics from Leicester University and a MA Business & Management in Emerging Markets from Reading University.

Maria's expertise includes implementing resilient investment programs, fund manager selection and the application of global best practice standards. She is also recognized as an ESG, investment governance and digital assets due diligence specialist.

Prior to her role as Research and Content Director at SBAI, where Maria lobbied global regulators on emerging regulation and was responsible for authoring a number of industry white papers, Maria has held senior positions with Man FRM, as both Head of Middle Office Accounting and as an Operational Due Diligence specialist. Other roles include Accounting Operations Manager at Northern Trust, as well as investment operations positions with Unigestion and Thames River Capital hedge funds, where she was responsible for trade execution, valuations and client reporting.

As a member of the SBAI's Working Groups on Digital Assets and Responsible Investment, Maria actively engages in shaping industry standards. Her academic background includes a first-class Bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences (Astronomy and Cosmology). Maria is a frequent panellist and speaker at financial services forums, showcasing her thought leadership.

Sonia Alonso is a transformation-focused investment operations leader with over 15 years’ experience across insurance, asset management, and commercial banking. At Convex Insurance, she oversees a $6bn+ portfolio and leads strategic initiatives in data, compliance, and operational efficiency, having joined from RBC Global Asset Management (UK), where she served as Head of Investment Operations. Sonia is recognised for her innovative approach to operational excellence and her thought leadership in investment operations transformation.
She holds dual BAs in Business Administration and Management (Universidad de Burgos, Spain) and in Political Sciences (UNED, Spain). Sonia is also certified by CFA UK with the Impact Investment and Climate & Investing Certificates, holds the CFA Institute’s Certificate in Sustainable Investing, and the CISI Investment Operations Certificate (IOC), demonstrating her strong commitment to professional development in the investment operations field.

Lauren McDermott is a Director within Insurance Solutions at Loomis, Sayles & Company, where she is responsible for business development and relationship management with insurance companies in the United States, the Bermuda offshore markets and EMEA region. She joined Loomis Sayles in 2022 and has 18 years of investment industry experience. Prior to Loomis Sayles, Lauren held a number of positions that drove third party insurance asset growth. Most recently, Lauren was director of insurance client solutions at Aviva Investors, where she developed new business within the insurance and hospital/healthcare markets. Previously, Lauren was at Brown Brothers Harriman, as the head of Business Development and led their strategic efforts, with an emphasis on growth within the insurance market. Prior to that, she was a director within Global Business Development at Barings. In that position, she served as a key member of the insurance team responsible for building and expanding a broader set of capabilities to serve their growing client base across life, property & casualty, health and re-insurers. Lauren began her career on the sell-side in fixed income sales for Bear Stearns. She earned a BS from Georgetown University.

Andrew Putwain is the Managing Editor of Clear Path Analysis’s two market website Insurance-Investor.com and FundOperator.com. He joined the company in early 2022, and prior to that was an oil market journalist for I.C.I.S, part of Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions Group, focusing on the Middle Eastern/North Africa and CIS regions. Other previous roles include Editor at Reactions, part of Euromoney, and on the editorial team at Axco Insurance Information Services. He has also had positions at NS Media, HennikGroup, The Institute of Civil Engineers Publishing and ESG Investor

I’m Alex, the Treasury Dealer at Bupa, where I’ve been working for 6 years now. I’m a chartered accountant for the Institute of Chartered Accounts of England & Wales, and recently passed the CFA Level 1 exam. My knowledge of the company over the years has led to me being involved in all aspects of Treasury from our segregated mandates, to actuarial analysis of our risk appetites, all the way to our Accounting for investments, intercompany arrangements, and FX hedging portfolio.

Maria's expertise includes implementing resilient investment programs, fund manager selection and the application of global best practice standards. She is also recognized as an ESG, investment governance and digital assets due diligence specialist.

Prior to her role as Research and Content Director at SBAI, where Maria lobbied global regulators on emerging regulation and was responsible for authoring a number of industry white papers, Maria has held senior positions with Man FRM, as both Head of Middle Office Accounting and as an Operational Due Diligence specialist. Other roles include Accounting Operations Manager at Northern Trust, as well as investment operations positions with Unigestion and Thames River Capital hedge funds, where she was responsible for trade execution, valuations and client reporting.

As a member of the SBAI's Working Groups on Digital Assets and Responsible Investment, Maria actively engages in shaping industry standards. Her academic background includes a first-class Bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences (Astronomy and Cosmology). Maria is a frequent panellist and speaker at financial services forums, showcasing her thought leadership.

Marilyn Swinney, CFA, has over two decades of international experience in business development, capital raising, and investment solutions. She has held senior roles at Principal Asset Management, State Street Global Advisors, Deutsche Bank Asset Management, Aviva Investors, and Henderson Global Investors, building strategic partnerships and driving growth across global institutions.

With a science and engineering background (BSc, Textile Technology, UMIST), she brings a unique perspective to ESG, data analytics, product development, and investment risk management, working with pensions, insurers, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and endowments. Marilyn also serves as an adviser to Form1 Partners, supporting strategy and innovation for transformative tech-scale partnerships.

A committed advocate for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, she holds a Supervisory
Board position with GAIN (Group for Autism, Insurance Investments and Neurodiversity), chairs the Cabinet Office’s Access to Insurance career working group, and is a Business Ambassador for Ambitious About Autism and the Diversity Project.

Andrew Putwain is the Managing Editor of Clear Path Analysis’s two market website Insurance-Investor.com and FundOperator.com. He joined the company in early 2022, and prior to that was an oil market journalist for I.C.I.S, part of Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions Group, focusing on the Middle Eastern/North Africa and CIS regions. Other previous roles include Editor at Reactions, part of Euromoney, and on the editorial team at Axco Insurance Information Services. He has also had positions at NS Media, HennikGroup, The Institute of Civil Engineers Publishing and ESG Investor

Bob Tyley is Head of Credit Risk in Hymans Robertson’s UK Insurance & Financial Services practice. He is an investment industry veteran with deep experience of global credit and interest rate markets. Having worked in the leading investment banks, insurance companies and consultancies, he has wide experience of implementing ESG, ALM, SAA, and IMV activities along with risk and capital modelling and optimisation for insurance companies.

 An area of particular focus currently is the impact of Solvency II UK Reform and its implications and challenges in enabling insurers to invest in a wider range of long-term productive assets.

 Bob is a Technical Specialist of the Institute of Risk Management and a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, as well as being a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Fearghas provides support for a range of general insurance clients, with a focus on capital modelling, internal model validation, model use, and insurance strategy.
He has over ten years’ experience in capital modelling for general insurance and has worked on internal model development and approval, and major model change applications with both PRA and Lloyd’s. 
Fearghas brings expertise in embedding capital modelling techniques to wider risk management and business decision making processes, and in explaining technical and statistical information to senior stakeholders. 
He also works directly with Insureds, advising on insurance and risk mitigation strategies and leading work with captive insurers. 

Head of Investments, Treasury & ALM, Assura Group After PhD in financial mathematics from EPFL (Lausanne) and postdoctoral tenure at Cambridge Univesity, Violetta joins UBS to continue her career in the industry. Prior to joining Assura she also held managerial positions at Swiss Life and Zurich Insurances, deepening the insights on both passives and actives. In Assura, she oversees the portfolios for base and complementary insurances, as well as pension fund of the group.

Moritz Zander, CFA is Head of Investments at New Reinsurance Company Ltd. Former experience includes Head of Origination, Capital Partners at New Re, VP, Capital Solutions EMEA and Senior Credit Underwriter at Swiss Re, and Economist at MIGA, World Bank Group. He holds a Masters degree in International Policy Studies from Stanford University and a licence degree (Bachelor of Arts) from the University of Geneva.

Corrado Pistarino has more than 25 years' experience in capital market. He is Chief Investment Officer at Foresters Friendly Society.

Previously to his current positions, he was Head of Insurance LDI at Aviva Investors, responsible for over £10bn of insurance funds and £30bn of derivatives exposure. 

His previous employers include Deutsche Bank, Dresden Kleinwort and ABN AMRO Bank. He worked in structuring/trading and client coverage, with a focus on ALM and capital management solutions. 

Corrado has a degree in Physics from Turin University and a Master in Finance from London Business School.

Vanessa joined M&G Investments in September 2021 as a Senior Fund Manager in the Private Long Dated Fund Management team within the Private and Alternative Assets business. Vanessa comes with more than 20yrs of experience in the Fixed Income markets covering Investment Grade, High Yield, Loans and Private Debt.  
Vanessa started her career in credit at S&P, before moving to the buyside in 2006. Since then, she has held a variety of roles at UBS Asset Management, State Street Global Advisors, Lyxor Asset Management. Most recently she was at Tikehau Capital, where she managed EUR2bn of AUM investing in non-investment grade private credit (Direct lending and mid-market club deals) as well as broadly syndicated loans and High yield bonds. 
Vanessa holds an MBA from Cass Business School and a BHons in Chemical Engineering from UCL. She most recently obtained her CFA certificate in ESG investing.

Jonida is a Director at CSC Fund Services Business in London, focusing on fund administration services, regulated AIFMD, Depositary, and UK Operator services for a portfolio of alternative investment fund managers and institutional investors.

Jonida has over 20 years of experience in financial services audit, accounting, and reporting, spanning investment management, banking, and insurance.

Jason Young is Head of U.S. Corporate Private Placements and Private Structured Credit for MetLife Investment Management’s (MIM) Private Capital. He is responsible for leading MIM’s U.S.-based Private Placement team covering the Corporate and Structured Debt Private Placement markets in the U.S and APAC

Prior to joining MIM in 2024, Jason held various transactional and organizational roles across global corporates, structured corporates and direct origination across his 17-year career at Corebridge Financial fka AIG Investments. Prior to Corebridge Financial, Jason completed a three-year formal credit training program within Citigroup’s middle market lending group.

Jason earned an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business and a B.B.A. from Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business. He is a CFA® charterholder.

Matthew Brennan is the Head of Asset Allocation & Research at Scottish Widows.

In this role, Matthew is responsible for setting the strategic asset allocation across Scottish Widows' multi-asset solutions. Through thought-leadership in asset allocation research, his team continuously develops and refines the company's approach to ensure optimal investment strategies.

Prior to this, Matthew served as Executive Director, Investment Oversight at Valu-Trac, an independent ACD. He also held significant roles at AJ Bell, including Head of Investment Management and Head of Passive Investments. His extensive experience spans private banking, hedge funds, and data analytics.

Matthew graduated in 2011 with a first-class Maths degree and is a CFA charterholder.

Jonathan is a Credit Specialist at Phoenix Group, the UK’s largest retirement savings and income provider. In this role Jonathan is focused on managing credit risk for a portfolio of liquid and illiquid real estate exposures. Jonathan joined Phoenix in 2019 from Canada Life where he managed credit risk oversight on CRE loans and other illiquid assets. Earlier in his career Jonathan spent 4 years at Fitch Ratings where he was a Director in the CMBS ratings team.

Patrick O’Sullivan is Head of International Insurance Solutions, responsible for the design and implementation of insurance solutions for global insurance companies. Patrick has worked in the asset management industry since 2016 following a period in academia. Patrick joined Barings in London in 2024 from Schroders where he was Head of Insurance Solutions. Before that, Patrick was a senior associate at JP Morgan Asset Management in London following two years as a lecturer at the University of Southampton. He holds a PhD in financial economics from University College Dublin and 1st Class BSc. in Financial and Actuarial Mathematics from Dublin City University.

Adam Ruddle is the Chief Investment Officer at LV=. He has responsibility for the investment management, allocation and optimisation of over £14bn of assets under management. His remit includes designing and setting investment strategies, managing group liquidity, the oversight of external asset managers and the structuring of physical and synthetic investment solutions for the company. Adam has been with LV= for nearly 15 years working in a wide range of roles including Asset Liability Management, Financial Reporting and Valuation, Capital Management and With-Profits oversight. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and holds the Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary designation.

Jennifer is an actuary and accountant with over 20 years’ experience in the insurance industry. She currently serves as Executive Director, Group CFO, Chief Risk Officer and Head of Actuarial Function with Acorn Life in Ireland. She is also an Independent Non Executive Director of Vhi, the Irish state-owned health insurer.  Jennifer is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (UK), the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. She is a member of the IFoA Actuarial Data Science Working Group and is an active member of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland through the Data Science Committee and the Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion Committee. Jennifer holds an MSc in Data Analytics and is an Ambassador for Women in Data Science.

Adrian is Head of Group Climate Investment Oversight at Legal & General, partnering with the L&G divisions to oversee the “Invest” pillar of our Group climate and nature strategy. Externally, Adrian is involved in a number of industry initiatives.  He is the Legal & General representative within the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) and is also on the SBTi Expert Advisory Group for the Financial Institution Net Zero (FINZ) Standard, having led the work to obtain to SBTi verification on Legal & General’s near-term investment targets.

Adrian has worked at L&G for coming up to twenty years, across a variety of departments and roles, while driving investment climate change initiatives within the Group function for the last seven years. He is a qualified Actuary with a BSc in Maths, Statistics, Operational Research and Economics from Warwick University.