Our speakers

Albertha has been Asset & Wealth Management Leader at PwC UK since January 2022 and PwC's Global Asset & Wealther Management Leader since July 2024 Albertha is a Deals partner with over 20 years experience in Financial Services, specialising in AWM and Insurance. She has held a number of leadership roles in the firm including leading our UK Financial Services Valuations business for the last five years. She helps her clients to understand and assess the value of their businesses, the implications of potential strategic options as well as the opportunities for value creation and growth. Outside of work Albertha is a member of the Business in the Community (BITC) Race Equality Leadership Board and is a member of the Advisory Board of 10,000 Black Interns. She is also the sponsoring partner for Urban Synergy Charity/PwC collaboration and a leadership Fellow, St.George’s House, Windsor Castle. Albertha has been listed in Empower Top 100 Ethnic Minority Senior Executives and was voted Financial Services Leader of the year 2017 by BBBA. She was also recognised in Brumell’s 30 Inspirational Women in the City 2019, Green Park Top 100 ethnic leaders Lists and in Cranfield University’s Women to Watch 2019 list.

Andreas Ernst Ferdinand Utermann, commonly referred to as Andreas E.F. Utermann (born January 1966), is an Anglo-German businessman and banking executive. He was the CEO of Allianz Global Investors from 2016 to 2019, having joined the company in 2002. Utermann has been a strong advocate for active investing, sustainable investing, and diversity in business. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Vontobel Holding AG, a position he has held since April 2022. He has a background in economics, with degrees from the London School of Economics and the Catholic University of Leuven.

Anne joined Fidelity International as CEO in December 2018 and was appointed a Director of FIL Limited in September 2019, moving to Vice Chair in March 2024. She has worked in the asset management industry since 1992. Anne has more than three decades of experience as an analyst, portfolio manager, chief investment officer and CEO. Her career path spans many blue chip global names in the financial sector including Alliance Capital, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, Aberdeen Asset Management and M&G Investments.

Anne is a Chartered Engineer and began her career as a research fellow at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research. She is a former chair of the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s Practitioner Panel and was appointed a board member of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in December 2020. Anne became chair of TheCityUK in June 2022.

Anne was appointed a Dame Commander (DBE) in June 2021 for services to Financial Services, Women, Education and Science.

Anne holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BSc (Hons) and an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and also holds an honorary degree from Heriot-Watt University

Andy Powell oversees Asset Management’s end-to-end infrastructure globally. In his client-service role, he is responsible for the group that services AM clients and manages the platform supporting AM fund operations. For both roles, Andy reports to Asset Management’s Chief Executive Officer, George Gatch. Prior to his current role, Andy was Asset Management’s Global Fixed Income and Liquidity Chief Operating Officer for two years. Other roles include two years as Chief Operating Officer for Global Rates at J.P. Morgan Chase, eight years as a Technology/Operations Derivatives Specialist in multiple asset classes at J.P. Morgan and Bank One, and five years at Andersen Consulting as a Business Analyst/Program Manager, working on initiatives at the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse. Andy holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Cambridge University, England.

Denelle Dixon is the CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a nonprofit that uses blockchain to promote financial inclusion and economic empowerment. She leads the teams that maintain Stellar's codebase, support its community, and advocate for the network with international stakeholders to drive its mission forward. Before joining Stellar, Dixon was the COO of Mozilla, a leading mission-driven, open-source organization. At Mozilla, she managed business, revenue, and policy teams, leading initiatives like the fight for net neutrality and advocating for user data control and privacy. She also helped Mozilla balance partnerships with commercial entities while staying true to its core mission of openness and innovation on the web. A lawyer by training, Dixon has held senior legal roles in private equity and technology sectors. She has been a strong advocate for net neutrality, encryption, and greater user choice and transparency in digital spaces. Dixon holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Davis, and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She serves on the boards of Airtm, Tala, and the Trust and Safety Professional Association, focusing on digital finance and online safety.

Francesca McDonagh is the Group CEO of Universal Investment, a leading European fund services organisation headquartered in Germany. She is responsible for the strategic management of the Group, with a focus on transforming Universal Investment into a global leader in fund administration, Manco and AIFM services.

Francesca has held several high-profile positions in the financial services sector. In September 2022, she joined Credit Suisse as the Group Chief Operating Officer and member of the bank’s Executive Board, playing a key role in overseeing Credit Suisse’s merger with UBS.

Between 2017 and 2022, she was the CEO of Bank of Ireland Group, the largest commercial bank in Ireland, the first woman to lead an Irish bank. She successfully returned the bank to private ownership.

Francesca started her career at HSBC where she worked for 20 years with roles in investment banking, retail banking, and wealth management in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Her last role at HSBC was as Group General Manager, responsible for Retail and Wealth Management for the UK and Europe.

Francesca holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Oxford University. She was selected to be a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. In 2017, she was recognized in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list with an OBE for services to banking. 

Steven Libby leads PwC's Asset & Wealth Management Practice across Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA). He joined PwC San Francisco in 1991 in the audit practice working across a diverse number of industries, including asset management, real estate and telecommunications. In September 1996, Steven transferred to the PwC Luxembourg office where his focus has been primarily on the asset management industry, working in both an audit and advisory capacity. With over 25 years of experience, Steven is a Partner working within the Risk Assurance Services practice. Steven has gained significant experience supporting the asset management community with advice on strategy through execution, including a focus on fund accounting, transfer agency and custody operations, as well as distribution. Steven has also led a diverse number of projects, ranging from market entry studies to governance model assessments. Steven is a Board member of the Luxembourg Fund Association (ALFI), a member of various IRE committees and a Board member of AMCHAM.

Caroline Farberger (born 1967) is a Swedish business executive and board professional, serving as a chairwoman, board advisor, and board member for several organizations. She was the CEO of ICA Insurance, part of the ICA Group, from 2016 to 2022. Farberger is notable for being the first Swedish top CEO to come out as transgender, doing so at the age of 49 in 2018. Raised in Uddevalla and Lerum, she completed military service and holds degrees in business administration from Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law and electrical engineering from Chalmers University of Technology. Farberger's career includes six years as a management consultant with McKinsey, founding the finance company InsMark, and holding various leadership roles at Trygg-Hansa. After coming out, she became an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, winning "LGBTQ Person of the Year" at the Gaygalan Awards in 2019. Her autobiography, *Jag, Caroline*, was published in 2020 and was nominated for Book of the Year by QX magazine. She is now focused on venture capital and continues to serve in leadership roles on various boards.

Martin’s original background is in banking and wealth management, where he worked in different business leadership, global strategy and digital transformation roles. Today, he is heading AI & GenAI for Financial Services across Microsoft EMEA. He is leading Microsoft’s partnerships with banks, insurers and FinTechs to help them transform their organizations and products through applied AI and embed Artificial Intelligence into their companies in a responsible and scalable manner.

Charlotte Crosswell OBE, Chair of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT). Charlotte has been involved in capital markets, fintech and technology throughout her career – as CEO, Chair, Board Advisor and Non-Executive Director. Prior to CFIT, Charlotte was Chair and Trustee of Open Banking and was also CEO of the fintech industry body, Innovate Finance. In this role, she supported the work of Ron Kalifa in delivering the strategic fintech review (The Kalifa Review). She works closely with entrepreneurs, financial services firms, academia, government and regulators on fintech advocacy and strategy. Charlotte received an OBE for her contribution to financial services in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021. She believes firmly in a diversity and innovation-first approach.

Sandro Pierri has more than 30 years’ experience in the asset management industry. He joined BNPP AM in 2017 as Head of the Global Client Group (‘GCG), its global sales and marketing organisation, and has made a notable contribution to implementing BNPP AM’s growth plan, positioning it as a key player offering high added value investment solutions for individual savers, companies and institutions. Sandro began his career in 1989 as a portfolio manager with San Paolo Fondi, moving to BNL Gestioni in 1992, before joining ING Investment Management in Italy in 1994, where he held several commercial roles. Between 2002 and 2003 he was Chief Executive of ING Group’s Italian retail business. Following the acquisition by UniCredit/Pioneer of ING’s Italian business, he joined Pioneer Investments, UniCredit’s asset management division, in 2004. He spent 10 years in various commercial and managerial positions, including being appointed CEO in 2012. Sandro graduated in Economics from the Università degli Studi di Torino, Italy.

Aman Thind is executive vice president and global chief architect for State Street. In this role, he is responsible for defining the technology strategy and driving adoption of the latest artificial intelligence (AI), crypto, cloud, and data strategies to transform the firm into an innovation-led organization.
Aman is also the chief technology officer (CTO) of State Street Digital Assets, a division dedicated to Crypto Assets and Web3.0 technologies. He is also CTO of State Street Alpha®, our leading data management platform to help clients manage all their investment products and business lines in one place.
Prior to being appointed as chief architect, Aman was CTO of State Street GlobalLink where he led the development of multiple low-latency trading and analytics applications systemic to the financial industry.
Before joining State Street, Aman was co-founder and CTO of BestXSM, a fintech start-up focused on transaction cost analysis and ensuring financial institutions have the best interests of their clients in mind anytime they trade on their behalf. State Street acquired BestXSM in September 2018. Earlier, he held several key quant, technology, strategy and leadership roles at Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Fidelity and Adobe.
Aman graduated from NIT Kurukshetra with an honors degree in computer science and engineering.

Allison Rosier is PwC's Asset & Wealth Management Global Tax Leader and is based in New York. With over 25 years focused on financial services, Allison has extensive experience working with hedge, credit and private equity managers, and is viewed as a thought leader on tax issues associated with structuring and operating alternative investment funds. Her past and current clients include long/short equity funds, global multi-strategy asset managers and market makers, quantitative traders, private equity and venture capital investment managers. Allison has worked with start-up funds and established asset managers and enjoys helping her clients solve problems, navigate changing tax rules, and anticipate future trends and opportunities. Given her long tenure at PwC, Allison has an established global network of contacts within the firm and is able to quickly bring resources to clients within and outside of tax.
Given her broad background and leadership skills, Allison is fortunate to have held other roles within PwC while continuing her client work. She has served as PwC’s Alternatives Tax Leader as well as PwC’s Human Capital Tax Leader, where she was focused on driving PwC’s people strategy, helping to design and support professional development and engagement across the US and global Tax practices. Allison also spent two years in Chicago as the Central Market Tax Leader, overseeing offices in Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin, covering over 1000 tax partners and staff. Currently, in addition to focusing on developing new business and serving her existing clients, Allison is supporting PwC’s global network as the Asset & Wealth Management Tax leader, focusing on sharing thought leadership and technology solutions.
Allison received her J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation from the NYU School of Law , and her A.B., with distinction, from Cornell University.

Geoffroy is an assurance partner specialised in ESG and Sustainable Finance. He is leading PwC Luxembourg ESG assurance practice as well the PwC EMEA ESG working group for Asset Management.
He is also an active member in a number of industry working groups on sustainable finance including EFAMA, Invest Europe, ALFI and the LPEA.
He developed his knowledge and expertise of Sustainable Finance through a wide range of engagements including but not limited to regulatory gap assessment, assurance reviews of sustainability report and ESG KPIs across all asset classes.
In addition to his Sustainable Finance and ESG responsibilities, Geoffroy is also responsible for the audit of mutual funds, hedge funds and private equity funds for global asset managers across various investments strategies.

Mary is an Audit Partner in the PwC Dublin and specializes in the Asset Management industry. She works on both domestic and offshore funds which utilise Irish GAAP, IFRS and US GAAP. Over the last 19 years, she has worked with an extensive range of clients in Ireland promoted by European and US investment managers. She has experience with many types of strategies and dealt with both AIF and UCITS products. Mary is also an elected member of Irish Fund's Council. She has taken on responsibilities within the PwC AM group in the area of passive funds and ETFs and is a member of the EFAMA ETF task force. She also has responsibilities for graduate recruitment and PwC Alumni programme.

Adrian Mulryan is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Invesco Ireland, Head of Office for Invesco Luxembourg, EMEA Regional Offices Engagement Lead and a member of the Council of Irish Funds. As CEO, Mr. Mulryan is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Invesco business in Ireland and for developing a consistent and coherent governance and oversight framework for Invesco’s EMEA regulated fund management companies.
Mr. Mulryan is a qualified solicitor and former law firm partner. Between 2008 and 2015 he was a founding employee and General Counsel for Source ETFs where he was responsible for all legal work related to product launches, European distribution, product maintenance and general compliance matters. He spent some 16 years working in the financial services sector in London, first in structured finance at Allen & Overy LLP before joining ABN AMRO Bank/RBS as Head of Retail Issuance (Legal) and, post his time at Source, he was a partner with Arthur Cox.

A partner since 2006, she has gained extensive experience in audit and complementary services in the real estate and financial sectors, working with numerous clients on projects related to the transition to IAS/IFRS, IPO processes, and the auditing of business plans. Additionally, she has been involved in due diligence projects and the issuance of fairness opinions in extraordinary transactions between listed companies.
She contributes to the development of Emerging Trends in Real Estate, a publication by PwC and the Urban Land Institute, which captures the market expectations of leading real estate players across Europe.
Lia holds a degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan and is registered with the Order of Chartered Accountants and the Register of Legal Auditors. She is also a member of the Technical Commission for Financial Services of Assirevi (Italian Association of Auditors).
She currently serves as the Assurance Asset & Wealth Management Leader at PwC Italy.

As partner in PwC since 2001, Andrew leads PwC's Global Advisory practice. He has spent over 25 years in financial and professional services, leading teams in Ireland, UK and the United States. As EMEA leader, Andrew leads PwC’s multi-disciplinary teams in the provision of assurance, tax and advisory services in the Asset and Wealth Management sector. Prior to taking on his current role, Andrew led PwC’s Exchange Traded Funds practice in EMEA and the PwC Asia Business Unit in Ireland. He also led PwC’s ‘Asset Management 2020’ research group and includes amongst his clients major North America, European and Asian asset managers and their fund vehicles.
A Chartered Accountant, Andrew has led many of our largest Global and EMEA Priority Client Relationships. He has been actively involved in the Irish Funds Industry since 1995 and has assisted many of the leading global fund managers to structure products in Europe. In addition to his Assurance role, Andrew has also led the PwC Asset Management Advisory and Risk Assurance Services (SAS 70) practices in Ireland.
Andrew is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and Ireland and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree from University College, Dublin.

He is Head of PwC’s Disruption & Innovation practice and he presents BBC Radio programmes such as FutureProofing, Hacking Capitalism and Hacking Happiness. He is also a Visiting Business Fellow at Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise & the Environment.
In 2004 Leo won the IFC Corporate Award for his work in developing and popularising the Equator Principles, an industry standard for environmental due diligence which is now accepted by more than 60 international banks. In 2006, he worked with the Financial Times and IFC to establish the Financial Times Sustainable Banking Awards. Johnson joined the World Bank as a Environmental Economist before co- founding the boutique advisory firm Sustainable Finance, since acquired by PwC Group.
As well as delivering keynote and after dinner speeches, Leo moderates international conferences, is regularly interviewed on CNBC and contributes to the Financial Times, Spectator and Wall Street Journal. Leo has an MBA from INSEAD, an MSc from University College London and a BA from New College, Oxford.

Joe Wiggins is an assurance partner with PwC. He has over 27 years of experience specializing in financial services, and currently serves as the US Assurance Alternative Funds Practice Leader for PwC. Prior to moving to Chicago in 2010, Joe spent most of his career working in the firm’s New York Asset Management Practice. He has extensive experience in investment fund audits with a particular focus on annual financial statement audits for non-registered and registered investment products, including private equity, hedge funds and investment companies.

Joe has served many multi-billion dollar hedge fund firms with strategies including credit derivatives, macro, relative value and RMBS as well as currently serving several fund of fund firms in the Chicago marketplace. In the private equity area, Joe's clients have included a major financial institution with more than 70 private equity funds and in excess of $6 billion of invested capital in middle-market buyouts, as well as growth equity and venture capital in the United States, Europe and Asia. Joe has also been one of the audit partners serving one of the world's leading private investment firms with approximately $25 billion under management in funds and accounts. Additionally, Joe was the engagement partner for a large 100+ registered investment fund complex of a major insurance company.
Joe led the National Learning and Education program for the U.S. Asset Management practice from 2003 to 2010. He is a frequent presenter at industry events, as well as PwC sponsored conferences. He serves as a Board member of the Midwest Chapter of Hedge Fund Cares charity organization, a Board member and Treasurer for the Managed Funds Association and is a partner participant of the PwC Diversity Council for Chicago. Joe earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting at the University of Iowa, and is a member of several CPA state societies as well as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

John is a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and serves large Global financial services clients. John’s client experiences include working with clients in the banking, investment management and insurance industries. He has experience with SEC reporting, M&A support, global custody operations, product and sales distribution practices, assistance with client profitability models and back office support for shareholder servicing operations. He has advised clients on matters relating to external reporting, acquisitions, initial public offerings and has significant experience delivering client service internationally. He also advises clients on the implications of global trends including the impending UK exit from the EU (Brexit).
John has been with PwC since 1988 and holds a B.S. from Villanova University in Accounting. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Massachusetts Association of CPA’s.

Justin is the PwC Asset & Wealth Management Leader for Asia-Pacific and has more than 26 years of experience in working with asset managers in Singapore, London and Continental Europe. Between 2010 and 2012, he spent two years in Luxembourg advising Asian asset managers on market entry and fund distribution in Europe, with a focus on UCITS funds and regulatory compliance matters, as well as European managers and asset servicers around opportunities in Asia.
Justin is a member of the Regulatory Committee, Investment Management Association of Singapore and a holder of the Investment Management Certificate (IMRO Full Version), Institute of Investment Management and Research (UK). He is also a Chartered Accountant, Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and Certified Practising Accountant (CPA), Australian Society of Institute of Certified Practising Accountants.

Marie-Anne Kong is a partner in PwC Hong Kong’s Financial Services Division and leads the firm’s Asset and Wealth Management Industry practice in Hong Kong. She has over 20 years of experience working in Hong Kong and the UK.
In addition to providing audit services to the Asset and Wealth Management Industry, Marie-Anne has extensive experience in advising asset management firms on operational effectiveness, best practices in areas of corporate governance and internal controls, funds start-ups, regulatory and compliance work in this industry. She services clients across the various sub-sectors of the Asset and Wealth Management industry including hedge funds, private equity, real estate and traditional asset managers. She interacts frequently with relevant industry associations and policy makers and is an active contributor to market developments for the asset and wealth management industry.

Paul has spent the last 23 years in PwC helping asset and wealth managers, asset owners and asset servicing businesses in APAC, US and the UK, by advising on areas ranging from strategy, organisational design, M&A, governance, risk, regulations and controls, and providing trusted assurance on financial reporting, regulatory reporting and internal controls.
He has spent the last 13 years in Singapore and during this time he has witnessed firsthand the explosive growth and trends driving the industry in Asia.More recently he had the opportunity to work with a leading global asset manager as their Chief of Staff for the APAC region. His role was to help the CEO and Deputy CEO manage their APAC business, review their organisational design and to act as a sounding board on strategic matters. He is also successfully led their acquisition of a boutique private markets business in APAC.

Roland is the U.S. Asset and Wealth Management Consulting Sector Champion at PwC. In this role, he oversees othe Consulting work – from Strategy to M&A, Growth and Front Office to Operating Model Transformation, Tax, Risk, Cyber and Cloud and Digital Initiatives through Managed Services – for clients across the Investment Management Value Chain – Asset Owners, Wealth Managers, Asset Managers – Traditional and Private Markets – Real Estate, as well as Asset Services and broader Service Providers.
He has over 25 years of experience serving Financial Institutions, both as a consultant and a strategy practitioner, across the US, Canada, Europe and the Middle East, helping clients transform and deal with the growing complexity of their business. Having lived across three continents, Roland is an avid traveler, who is interested in and inspired by other cultures, and a proud husband and dad of two amazing daughters that keep him on his toes.

Dariush leads the AM Market Research Centre within PwC. He has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has led and contributed to various research and thought leadership studies, as well as strategic consulting for clients. Dariush has worked for seven of the top 10 global asset managers. Client include major global and regional asset managers, fund associations, European Commission, European governments, banking associations, large retail banks, and corporate and custodian banks. He holds a MBA from the University of Chicago, GSB.

Shaan Elbaum is a Financial Markets and Real Estate Partner at PwC U.S. Previously, he was a director in the Transaction Services Practice, focusing on financial reporting valuations. With over five years of experience as a valuation consultant, he has worked on projects related to SFAS 141 and 142, private company stock valuations, and Private Equity investments across various industries such as oil and gas, technology, and financial services. He has also advised on accounting, valuation, and hedging activities.
Before joining the valuation practice, Shaan spent five years in audit and business advisory services, focusing on the financial services industry. He has led audits for financial institutions and mortgage companies and contributed to strategic and operational projects.
Shaan holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and a B.S. in accounting from Yeshiva University. He is a licensed CPA in New York.

Chris is Financial Markets Valuation Services Leader, based in Washington, DC with over sixteen years of financial services and capital markets experience. Chris provides valuation, accounting, risk management, and governance advice to a diverse group of U.S. and foreign financial and nonfinancial institutions, investment advisors, and government sponsored entities. Chris leads Transformation and Innovation for Financial Markets. In this role, Chris combines technology trends such as AI, RPA, and data visualization, with his passion for disruption, to reshape, rebuild, redefine and modernize legacy processes and enhance customer experience. Chris completed a two-year Professional Accounting Fellowship in the Office of the Chief Accountant at the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). While with the SEC, Chris focused on valuation and fair value measurement in connection with financial reporting.

Olivier Carré, Deputy Managing Partner, Technology & Transformation Leader, joined the firm in 2003 after five years of experience in an audit and consulting firm, where he worked as a Financial Services Auditor and Consultant. He became a partner in 2009, and led the Regulatory Advisory Team from 2013 until 2023. He was the PwC Luxembourg Banking Industry Leader from 2014 to 2017 and was a member of the Global PwC Asset & Wealth Management Leadership Team. Since 2019, Olivier is sponsoring the Sustainable Finance consulting activities of PwC Luxembourg.
Olivier has gained a broad experience in the financial services industry, especially in the investment fund and asset servicing industries, leading international engagements for asset managers, wealth managers and financial institutions focusing on operational change, strategic advice and regulatory compliance.
Between 2019 and 2023, he was the Markets & Strategy - Financial Services Market Leader as part of the Country Leadership Team.
Olivier holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Tax Law and a Master’s degree in Management and Economics Sciences from HEC-University of Liège.

Moira Cronin is a Partner in PwC’s Digital Risk team focusing on technology and cyber risk and resilience, with experience in financial services, manufacturing and TMT (Technology, Media and Telecommunications).
She specialises in IT risk management and controls, helping clients navigate cyber and IT risk frameworks with an emphasis on digital operational resilience.
Moira’s approach is grounded in integrity and foresight. She champions robust IT risk management strategies, ensuring clients remain compliant and resilient against digital challenges, including the EU AI Act, Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), and revised Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2).
Moira envisions a future where companies excel in risk management and maintain resilience in an ever-evolving cyber risk landscape.

Peter is a Partner in the Financial Services Transfer Pricing team with over 14 years of international tax and transfer pricing experience, specializing in financial institutions since 2005. His expertise includes TP documentation, implementation, audit defense, APAs, and managing permanent establishment thresholds.
He has extensive M&A experience, optimizing transfer pricing and minimizing risks during due diligence and post-deal integration for private equity and corporate clients. Peter previously worked in London, leading PwC UK’s asset management TP practice, and has held roles in Tokyo and San Francisco across financial services and technology sectors.
A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales, Peter frequently speaks at conferences and publishes on transfer pricing.

David is the Sustainability, Disruption and Innovation Lead at PwC. David has been tasked with creating a vision that enables the financial markets to make the systemic changes required to remain effective as ESG data becomes increasingly price sensitive.
A chartered accountant by trade, David's varied career has spanned Energy, Airlines, Asset Management, Banking, Audit, Corporate Recovery, Finance, Investor Relations, Advisory, large transformations, and now the future! David focuses on enabling markets to benefit from emerging trends and latest technologies. David's particular focus is the combination of business understanding and human insights, applied to the ever-increasing and impactful range of data sources that shape and measure our world.

Rob has over 30 years of tax experience within the asset management (“AM”) sector. Rob began his tax career at HMRC before joining PwC in November 1998. Rob is the Markets and Alternatives Leader for PwC UK and PwC EMEA Asset Management Brexit Leader.
Rob is responsible for a number of alternative AM clients across issues such as Fund, Management team and portfolio structuring, transfer pricing, reward and retention planning, LLP, carry, co-investment structures and tax authority investigations.
Rob has worked on a number of M&A transactions in relation to asset managers.
Rob sits on PwC’s global AWM editorial board in relation to AM Industry thought leadership pieces.

Martin C. Syms, Managing Director, is the International Head of BlackRock's Aladdin Engineering Group. His responsibilities include strategic delivery of Aladdin to the firm in EMEA and APAC. He also represents Aladdin Engineering with Aladdin Clients, BLK Asset Management Clients, and Regulators. He also plays a strategic advisory role for tech talent globally.
Mr Syms service with the firm dates back to 2000, including his years with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. He is an accomplished engineering leader and has led large global engineering verticals to build core capabilities in Aladdin. Mr Syms is also a very experienced enterprise leader and has also held several strategic transformational roles.

Eugénie Krijnsen is PwC’s global financial services advisory leader and the financial sector industry leader in the Netherlands. She advises global executives on innovation and leadership strategies, as well as transformational and regulatory challenges. Based in Amsterdam, she is a partner with PwC Netherlands.

Currently Market Leader for PwC Ireland’s Strategic Alliances, Aisling Curtis has more than 20 years' experience in the telecommunications and technology sectors including global, regional and Irish market roles. She formerly held roles as Microsoft Strategy and Sustainability Director, Global Partner Solutions Director and the Commercial Director. She holds a Masters in Business Economics from University College Cork (UCC), studied at the Insead Data and Artificial Intelligence School and is a graduate of the Cambridge University Sustainability Leadership 2022 programme.

Gavin Barwell started working for the Conservative party headquarters in 1993 and worked closely with Party leaders until the 2010 election. He was an MP for Croydon Central from 2010 to 2017, during which time he also served as the Minister of State for Housing & Planning and Minister for London from 2016 to 2017. Subsequently Gavin served as Chief of Staff to the former Prime Minister, Theresa May, from 2017 to 2019. He shares distinctive and highly relevant insights into UK politics and geopolitics, identifying trends, opportunities, challenges and risks. Gavin advises a number of businesses across a range of sectors as well as supporting charitable foundations.

Carmel Jordan is a specialist in delivering performance improvement and had provided tangible results for organisations over the past 20 years. Carmel began her career with Price Waterhouse and continued to progress through a series of senior roles in Professional and Financial services. Recently Carmel worked within the Banking sector with an organisation involved in transformative change.

Ulrich Keipert is a director in management consulting for financial services at PwC Deutschland, based in Frankfurt. With over two decades in the finance industry, he has led strategic business development, sustainability, and marketing efforts at LBBW Asset Management and held senior operational roles at Deutsche Asset Management, including COO for the EMEA Global Client Group. His expertise includes corporate M&A, regulatory strategy, and process optimization. Ulrich holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Cologne.

With over 20 years of experience in financial markets, Micaela Forelli has been a key player in M&G Investments’ international expansion. She was appointed CEO Europe, for M&G Asset Management operations in 2023. In her role, she leads M&G’s European business across Distribution, Investments and Corporate Operations from our Luxembourg hub and oversees a team of over 200 colleagues. Micaela is Chairman of the Board of M&G’s Luxembourg and Switzerland investment companies and Manager of the Board of a number of Alternative Funds. She earned a degree in business administration and an MBA from Bocconi University & is an INSEAD Certified International Director.

Beth serves as PwC’s US Exchange Traded Funds Leader and Index Transparency Solutions Leader. She also serves as the partner for the audits of mutual funds, exchange traded funds, private equity funds, hedge funds, insurance company separate accounts and hedge fund of funds.
With more than 17 years of financial services industry experience, Beth has significant experience in managing complex issues and risk through a balanced approach with multiple stakeholder groups including management, boards and regulators. She serves a wide array of clients including exchange-traded funds and mutual funds as well as private equity funds, hedge funds and insurance company separate accounts.
Beth earned her B.S. in accounting from Fordham University's College of Business Administration. She is a licensed CPA in the state of New York and a member of the AICPA.

Peter has been a member of PwC’s Global Workforce Leadership Team since 2014, most recently as Global Clients and Markets Leader for the practice.
He joined PwC UK as a partner in September 2010 having previously held senior roles at large professional services organisations. He has over 20 years’ experience as an HR and workforce transformation expert, working with large multinational organisations to help them tackle their people challenges.
Prior to working in professional services, Peter was in the Royal Air Force and continues to support them as a Trustee of the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust with a focus on inspiring STEM skills within young people who also have an interest in aviation. He was appointed MBE for his services to the Royal Air Force.

Naoki Kubo, Partner, Asset & Wealth Management practice in PwC Japan, has provided audit and advisory services for the asset management companies as well as trust banks for over 18 years.
He returned in July 2015 from a five-years secondment in Luxembourg where he was engaged in fund audit services, regulatory compliance advisory services, and global fund distribution services.
Naoki is the leader of ARFP committee organized by the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a member of fund committee organized by the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is also a member of development of business environment organized by the Investment Trust Association Japan and an observer of global asset management regulatory committee organized by the Investment Trust Association Japan.

Mr. Ni is PwC China ESG Markets Leader, China Climate & Sustainability Leader, and a lead partner in the Private Equity assurance group, with over 23 years’ experience in PwC.
He has rich experience in asset management and other financial audit services, and a keen understanding of green finance policy and industry development trends. He has years’ experience helping solve the complex business, operations, financial and tax issues encountered by funds and fund management companies. Mr. Ni has also organized seminars covering a range of professional and technical aspects of private equity, including the comparison of accounting standards at home and abroad, as well as the improvement of fund governance structures and internal controls.
Mr. Ni has been committed to supporting and promoting the development of green finance. He served as the deputy director of the Green Finance Cooperation Committee of the Asian Financial Cooperation Association, aiming to provide members with internationalised and specialised green financial knowledge. Mr. Ni actively responded to policy guidance and market demand, led the team to carry out innovative development and promotion of green financial service products, and cooperated with a number of benchmark enterprises in the financial industry to assist regulators in the establishment and promotion of industry standards.
Mr. Ni serves as a member of the Liability Investment (ESG) Professional Committee of the Insurance Asset Management Association of China and supports in performing corresponding responsibilities.
Mr. Ni is a Hong Kong CPA, an Australia CA and an CFA charter holder. Prior to joining our Beijing office in 2004, he worked on audit and advisory assignments in the financial services practice of PwC Sydney and Singapore office for years.

Sonja has over twenty years of experience in the financial services industry.
As Wirtschaftsprueferin (German Public Accountant) and Partner in PwC's assurance practice in Germany she offers assurance and advisory services with specific focus on the asset & wealth management industry. Her clients include management companies, security and real estate funds, financial institutions, depositaries, among others. Sonja specialises in the fields of accounting and financial reporting (HGB, IFRS, KARBV), risk management and regulatory compliance (UCITS, AIFMD, KAGB, DerivateV, KAMaRisk, MaRisk, KWG, WpHG, FinVermV), controls reports (ISAE 3402), process improvement and process efficiency.
Prior to joining PwC Sonja worked at a bank, in investor relations at a SME and in a home for elderly. She has gained intercultural sensitivity through working with international teams, through professional experiences in Germany, Canada and Luxembourg as well as through her studies in UK and US.
Sonja leverages her experiences within and outside of her teams by coaching and as mentor to young professionals.

Suren Sankar is a Managing Director at State Street, where he leads the Custody ecosystem strategy, focusing on establishing and growing partnerships with FinTech innovators. Suren is committed to driving strategic partnerships to improve the client experience and enhance State Street’s offerings. Suren brings two decades of experience in the asset servicing industry and has held various leadership roles specializing in operations, product development, and partnerships.  Before joining State Street, he held a variety of roles in asset servicing across two global US banks.  

Sahil Bhandari is a Managing Director and Growth Venture Partner in BNY Mellon’s Growth Ventures team based in London. Growth Ventures is focused on identifying, incubating and building new businesses leveraging BNY Mellon’s capabilities, especially in areas across Technology/Data & Analytics, Alternatives/Private Markets Distribution and Wealth Technology. Sahil joined the Bank having most recently worked as a Co-investor and Operating Partner with PE/VC firms focusing on Financial services and Fintech and has extensive experience across global Financial Services, especially Banking, Wealth Management and Alternative Asset management. He was earlier an MD at UBS where he was the Global Head of Alternatives Strategy & Business Development for UBS WM and earlier had a range of senior roles across the Group focusing on client and business development. Prior to that, he was Principal with a Financial-services focused global investment company-Olivant Advisers, focusing on banking and wealth/asset management. He started his career at McKinsey & Company as a management consultant focusing on Financial Services, Technology and Private Equity/Asset Management. Sahil has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Bangalore where he was part of the Director’s Merit List. He has lived and worked globally including the U.S., U.K., Europe, Middle-East, India and Asia-Pacific.

Ryan is the Global Head of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships for Citi’s Securities Services division. Ryan’s role sits across all Products and functions within the business and is responsible for developing and implementing the firm’s innovation strategy, identifying and structuring external partnerships, including strategic investments, and driving industry initiatives. With almost thirty years’ experience across the securities services industry, Ryan is an industry expert and trusted advisor to clients, he works across the industry to drive innovation and market change. He has represented Citi at several market infrastructure advisory boards and is currently a board member on a Citi portfolio company. Ryan joined Citi in 1996 and has since held senior positions across Operations, Product Management, Product Development, Strategy & Innovation. Ryan holds a B.A. Honors degree in business and economics.

Ron Beale is responsible for Vanguard’s Fund Accounting and Oversight operations across Europe and Australia, with over two decades of experience in financial service operations. Ronnie works closely with third party administrators, custodians and auditors alongside Vanguard’s product and investment teams. To ensure timely and correct fund accounting/NAV operations are supported in line with compliance and accounting regulations. Ronnie in his time at Vanguard has held various roles leading back and middle office operational teams. Ronnie has a strong track record of delivering quality and efficiency through digital innovation and back/middle office process optimization.

Sébastien is a seasoned professional at PwC Luxembourg with 17 years of experience in finance, including a decade focused on regulatory and risk reporting for Management Companies and AIFMs. His expertise includes ensuring compliance and creating innovative GenAI solutions that boost efficiency and accuracy in asset management. Fluent in French and English, Sébastien holds a Master’s in Statistics and Economics from France, bringing analytical rigor and a client-centric approach to his work.

As Chief Operating Officer of Citi’s Securities Services business, Jenny’s responsibilities include strategy, digital transformation, data governance, business execution and expense management.
Jenny previously led a global culture transformation programme for Citi and was also EMEA Head of Human Resources and EMEA Head of Public Affairs.
Prior to joining Citi in 2012, Jenny held a number of senior roles in the UK public sector and National Health Service culminating in her being appointed Executive Director for Government Communications in the Cabinet Office. In this role she led a major restructure of government communications and advised on the handling of a range of issues, from public sector reform to national security.

Harriet Newlyn is a leading practitioner with PwC's global workforce practice. She specialises in workforce and HR transformation, including skills-based organisation strategy, HR function strategy, operating model design and digital adoption. She is a partner with PwC UK.
Harriet has extensive experience working with global clients on multi-year transformation programmes and has also spent more than ten years in HR.

Tamika Boateng is a Managing Director at PwC US, specializing in financial services strategy and transformative programs across various operational areas, from front to back office. She leads initiatives focused on digital value creation, client onboarding, enterprise resilience, and third-party risk management. Tamika also advises clients on asset servicing, wealth management, system implementation, firm integrations, and financial technology solutions, bringing a comprehensive, tech-forward approach to her clients' complex challenges. Her strategic insights and extensive industry knowledge make her an invaluable asset in driving innovation and operational efficiency.

Peter Rauchfuss is a Director at PwC US with over 13 years of experience in strategy and management consulting. Based in the Greater New York City area, he has a proven track record at Strategy&, where he has served in various roles since 2012. His expertise spans strategic transformations and operational excellence across multiple industries.
Before PwC, Peter was a Consultant at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence, where he focused on advancing digital intelligence solutions. He holds an MS in Operations Research from Columbia Engineering and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, grounding his strategic insights in strong technical expertise.

Declan Byrne serves as the Global Assurance Leader for Asset & Wealth Management at PwC, overseeing strategic initiatives across PwC’s international network to deliver leading assurance services for the sector. With over two decades of experience, Declan has specialized expertise in U.S. GAAP and IFRS assurance services for a variety of asset management entities, including mutual funds, private funds, and corporate asset managers. Based in Boston, he also leads PwC's Mutual Fund Research & Analytics for the U.S., the Halo for Funds audit automation tool, and serves as COO for PwC's AM Digital Solutions platform.