Board

Patrick Thomson is Chief Executive Officer for EMEA, J.P. Morgan Asset Management based in London. He is Chair of the Board of the Investment Association, representing UK’s investment management industry, and a Member of the UK Government’s Treasury Task Force. Patrick joined J.P. Morgan Asset Management in 1995 and worked in Singapore 2000-2005 as global head of sovereigns, with extensive experience in reserves management in Asia and the Middle East, and has worked with many of the largest asset owners in the world.

Nasreen Kasenally was appointed Global Chief Operating Officer for UBS Asset Management (AM) in May 2023. She is responsible for all business support functions for the division, encompassing Operating, Accounting & Control, the Chief Data Office, AM’s Transformation and Change portfolio, Business Risk Management and AM Tax, as well as those provided by UBS’s Group Functions, such as AM CDIO. She is Chair of the UBS Asset Management Operating Forum. In addition to her role as COO, Nasreen was appointed Country Head AM UK in May 2023, responsible for overseeing all AM business conducted in the UK and promoting cross-business collaboration in the location. She was approved as SMF1 Chief Executive and SMF3 Executive Director of UBS Asset Management (UK) Ltd on 13 September 2023.

Euan Munro joined Newton Investment Management in 2021 as Chief Executive Officer, from Aviva Investors where he was Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Aviva plc group executive team for 7 years. He is a seasoned investment management executive with a background in macro investing and started his career as an Actuarial Trainee at Scottish Provident to then joining Standard Life Investments (SLI) as an Inflation-Linked Portfolio Manager in 1995. Euan spent nearly 20 years at SLI where he was Head of Multi-Asset and Fixed-Interest Investing and was latterly a member of that company’s board. Euan has a first-class honours degree in Physics from the University of Edinburgh and is a Fellow of the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries.

Chris joined the IA in 2016 from TheCityUK, which he set up and ran as CEO for seven years. He sits on the Treasury’s Asset Management Taskforce, the Board of EFAMA (European Fund & Asset Management Association) and is the President of IIFA (International Investment Funds Association). He is also Chairman of Just Finance Foundation. He was previously a member of the FCA’s Regulatory Decisions Committee and the FCO’s Diplomatic Excellence Panel.

Rachel Elwell joined Border to Coast with over twenty years’ experience of working in pensions and institutional investment, both as a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and latterly at Royal London. In this role she was responsible for both Royal London’s own pension arrangements and for investment strategy and oversight of internal and external management of its insurance assets totalling £80 billion. Rachel is a Cambridge maths graduate and qualified actuary.

Mark is Chief Executive Officer of St James Place. He started his career with Deloitte in Cape Town, becoming a partner in 1997. He remained with Deloitte for 25 years building his industry focus in financial services in the UK, Europe, and South Africa. Mark became group chief financial officer at Prudential plc in July 2017, before his role was broadened to include chief operating officer responsibilities for communications, legal, company secretarial and government relations functions. He was appointed interim chief executive officer of Prudential plc in April 2022, standing down on 24 February 2023. Mark is on the boards of the British Heart Foundation and the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and chairs their Audit and Risk Committees.

Paul joined Evelyn Partners in July 2023 and was appointed as CEO on 6 October 2023. He was previously CEO of QA Group, a leading provider of higher education and workforce learning programmes and services. Prior to that, Paul spent ten years as CEO of Direct Line, the FTSE 250 insurance group. Having been CEO of the insurance division of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which included the Direct Line, Churchill, Privilege, Green Flag and NIG brands, he was responsible for splitting the division off from the bank and leading the successful IPO of Direct Line Group. He was also CEO of RBS' Retail Bank in the UK Mainland, including NatWest, and a member of the RBS Group Executive Committee. Paul graduated from Oxford with a degree in Philosophy, Politics & Economics.

Hans joined Royal London Asset Management as Chief Executive Officer in April 2021 with overall responsibility for managing the business, and as a member of the Royal London Group’s Executive Committee. He started his financial services career in 1996 as an equity analyst at BZW Investment Management, the asset management arm of Barclays. Hans remained with Barclays until 2010, progressing through a number of executive roles. In 2010 Hans joined Architas, a fledgling UK asset management business wholly owned by AXA. Under his tenure the business grew to over £40bn assets, operating across 13 countries. Hans graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Politics, Philosophy & Economics and a Masters degree in Economics. He completed his MBA at INSEAD in 2000.

Kirstie MacGillivray is Head of Dealing and UK CEO of Aegon Asset Management. She also chairs its Front Office Governance Committee. Kirstie joined Aegon AM in 2008 from Barrie & Hibbert where she advised companies on risk management of derivatives. Prior to this she was a partner in BCS Asset Management, a global macro hedge fund. Previously she worked for 7 years in equity derivatives sales, initially for Morgan Stanley, and, latterly, for UBS Investment Bank. She started her career at Abbey National Asset Managers as a member of the investment strategy unit. She has over 20 years’ industry experience. Kirstie studied Commercial Law & taxation at Glasgow University.

Matthew joined Neuberger Berman in 2015. Matt is the Head of the Global Institutional Client Group and Head of EMEA. Additionally, he oversees the Insurance Solutions business and is a member of the firm’s Partnership Committee. Before joining the Neuberger Berman, Matt was Global Head of the Institutional Solutions Group at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and built and led the firm’s Global Insurance Solutions business. Prior to J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Matt was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and worked for several years as a Managing Director in Financial Institutions Investment Banking with UBS Investment Bank and Merrill Lynch. Matt serves on the board of Brick Education Network in Newark, NJ. He holds a BA from Washington & Lee University and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.

John McCareins is head of international and leads Northern Trust Asset Management's business in EMEA and APAC. John serves on the Asset Management Executive Group with oversight of regional and country strategies, daily operations, regulatory affairs, relationships with other businesses, and regional clientele. John was previously head of asset management for APAC in Hong Kong and earlier served in Chicago as the outsourced chief investment officer practice focused on retirement assets within Northern Trust's multi-manager solutions group. He is a CAIA® charterholder, has attained the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) designation and is also an Accredited Asset Management Specialist designee and a Certified Treasury Professional designee.

Ms. Melvin is responsible for leading BlackRock’s UK & Europe businesses, including setting the strategy and delivering the full suite of BlackRock products & services to clients. She was appointed as Head of UK & Europe in 2024, having previously been Head of UK since 2019. She has also been Chair of BlackRock’s Africa business since 2023. Prior to this, Ms. Melvin was Head of Institutional Client Business for the US and Canada, Chief of Staff to the Chairman and CEO, Larry Fink, and Chief Operating Officer of the EMEA Retail business. She leads the BlackRock European Leadership Group, Africa Executive Committee and Global DC Council. Ms. Melvin is a Non-Executive Director of TheCityUK, and a Trustee of Monmouth Schools’ Charitable Trust. She is also a member of the Diversity Project Advisory Council and HMT Women in Finance Charter Taskforce.

Catherine joined Fiera as Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer in 2019 and is currently Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Partner for the Fiera Capital London office. In a career spanning more than 20 years, Catherine has held senior positions at a number of leading hedge funds and asset managers, including Sabre Fund Management (now Sabre Trium), Hermes Investment Management (now Federated Hermes), Thames River Capital, The Children’s Investment Fund and 10 years at Goldman Sachs working in both their London and Paris offices. Catherine is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales having qualified with PwC London. She has a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance from Nottingham.

Joseph Pinto joined M&G plc in March 2023 as Chief Executive Officer of M&G Asset Management. He is a member of M&G’s Group Executive Committee, reporting to Group Chief Executive, Andrea Rossi. Joseph has accountability for all investment capabilities including the equity, fixed income, multi asset, private and alternative asset strategies alongside distribution, operations and proposition management across Asset Management. He has 30 years of experience in asset management, financial services and consulting, joining M&G from Natixis Investment Managers where he served as Head of Distribution and Investment Solutions for EMEA, APAC and LATAM and Global Chief Operating Officer. Before Natixis, he worked at AXA Investment Managers for 13 years in senior positions, including Global Chief Operating Officer.

Ann Prendergast is executive vice president and head of EMEA for State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the investment management arm of State Street. She is a member of the SSGA Operating Group and chairs the EMEA Executive Committee. Ann has responsibility for spearheading the firm’s growth aspirations in EMEA and providing broader regional oversight. She has spent more than two decades with SSGA, previously as CEO of SSGA Europe Ltd, and leading the sales and marketing team for the Irish market. Prior to SSGA, Ann worked for the Bank of Ireland Group. Ann holds a business studies degree from the University of Limerick, is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and is a Certified Investment Fund Director (CIFD).

Mark is CEO of Aviva Investors* and a Director of the Aviva Investors Global Services Limited Board. He joined Aviva Investors in 2014 and was appointed CEO in January 2021. Previously, he was CEO for Aviva Investors Real Assets from its formation in May 2018. Mark began his career as a consultant Actuary and then gained a diverse experience across markets with investment banking roles in fixed income, equities and capital markets. He has extensive risk management and derivatives experience. Prior to Aviva Investors, he worked at Friends Life where he was CEO of the Group and MD of their in-house asset manager, Friends Life Investments. Previously, he was the CIO of AXA in the UK.

Karen has been the COO of Lansdowne Partners since August 2023, when CRUX was acquired. Before that, she was the CEO of CRUX Asset Management from early 2020 and the COO from 2015. She has over 25 years of experience in senior and executive roles in asset management, working for Man Group, Janus Henderson and Fidelity in London and Dublin. She is also the Chair and Independent Non-Executive Director (NED) for Mediolanum International Funds in Ireland and a NED for The Investment Association. Karen is a member of the FCA Small Business Practitioner Panel representing the Asset Management sector for the UK regulator. Karen has an MBA from Durham University.