Speaker | Germany Forum
Kai Anderson
Partner and Transformation Lead International
Mercer
One of Germany’s most coveted People Management experts. His area of expertise covers Transformation, Future of Work and Sustainability topics. He supports executives as they realign and transform their organizations and HR practices.
In 1999, he and a college friend founded Promerit AG as a new type of consulting firm for transformation and talent management that was acquired by Mercer in 2018.
Until today, he develops cutting-edge management practices (such as transformation management or people sustainability) in cooperation with clients as well as academic and scientific partners.
Kai has been awarded several times as one of the ‚Leading Heads of HR in Germany’. He is a popular speaker at industry events and a highly regarded instructor for transformation and HR seminars.
Jonas Aechtner
Project Manager for Sustainable Finance
WWF Deutschland
Jonas Aechtner is Project Manager for Sustainable Finance at WWF Germany, where he is responsible for their work with banks on deforestation-free and sustainability criteria, as well as developing business cases for sustainable agriculture. His regional focus is southeast Asia. Previously he was working on responsible investment policy, sustainable land management and rural development in Asia, central, and south America. He holds a Master’s degree in International Development from Lund University Sweden.
Bennet Barth
Program Director RESPOND and Investment Manager
BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt
Bennet Barth is the Program Director at the RESPOND Accelerator and drives the strategic development and implementation of the BMW Foundation’s work around business, innovation and tech. Bennet is also part of the Foundation’s investment team, where he manages an international portfolio of impact investments and supports the foundations programmatic work around Sustainable Finance Before joining the BMW Foundation, Bennet worked at MAZE in Lisbon, where he, alongside entrepreneurs and investors, sought to scale impactful and effective solutions to social and ecological challenges. As investment associate in a 50-million euro Impact Venture Capital Firm, with offices in London and Lisbon. In this capacity, he supported the set-up and fundraising, advised several impact enterprises and, through various joint publications with international partners, contributed to building the impact investing ecosystem in Europe.
Karin Barthelmes-Wehr
Managing Director
ICG Institut
Ida Beerhalter
Member of the Advisory Board
Nixdorf Kapital
Julia Bewerunge
Manager Carbon & Finance
ClimatePartner
Julia Bewerunge is Manager Carbon & Finance at ClimatePartner in Munich where she establishes new approaches to sustainable financial products. She is an experienced sustainable investment project lead with a focus on climate, diversity and inclusion. Julia Bewerunge joint from ISS ESG where she led five markets as ESG Specialist, Associate Vice President. Within that role, she led the ISS research on the EU Taxonomy for the German Ministry of Environment, which was conducted in partnership with adelphi. Prior to working at ClimatePartner and ISS, Julia Bewerunge started her career as a journalist and researcher and continued as a consultant and member of the executive office at KPMG Germany, where she specialized in ESG, impact investments and diversity in Asset Management.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Beyerle
Managing Director
Catella Property Valuation
Thomas Beyerle is the Managing Director of Catella Property Valuation GmbH as well as the Head of Group Research for the Catella group. At the Biberach University of Applied Sciences he holds a chair in real estate research. Thomas, Phd and graduated geographer, studied geography and business management at the universities of Stuttgart and Mannheim. Over the past 24 years he has held several management positions in real estate companies, including Dresdner Bank, DEGI, Aberdeen Property Investors & IVG Immobilien AG. Furthermore, he is a speaker at renowned real-estate congresses and author of numerous articles and textbooks. He is voluntarily involved with the ZIA Zentraler Immobilienausschuss, the ULI Urban Land Institute and gif Gesellschaft für immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung, of which he has been president since 5/2021.
Antje Biber
Head of SDG Office
FERI
As a member of the Management Board and Head of SDG Office of FERI AG, Antje Biber is responsible for the SDG Sustainability strategy of the FERI Group. She actively works with various public institutions, has numerous public and educational assignments. She fully commits her work to the integration of the SDGs into the financial industry systems as well as the economy.
She joined FERI in 2005 and is the Chairwoman of the Board of FERI (Schweiz) AG. In Zurich, she is responsible for the entire Swiss business strategy and FERI unit, as well as the development and implementation of an international growth strategy including new innovative investment solutions.
The mathematics graduate (Heidelberg) has built up a global network of international institutions and major investors within her 20 years of experience in the financial industry, which are market leaders in the field of sustainability and impact-oriented investing.
Anton Bonnländer
Founder and Partner
RE’PUBLIC Sustainable Finance Consulting
Anton Bonnländer has been supporting banks and companies in strategic, sales and product-specific issues for many years. He specializes in the areas of sustainability / ESG and impact investing. In this context, he advises institutional investors on sustainable investment solutions and develops hybrid training concepts and workshop formats for banks, financial distributors and academies.
He is a partner and founding member of RE’PUBLIC SUSTAINABLE FINANCE CONSULTING and GENOVISION. Both companies aim to promote and support the sustainable transformation of the economy and society in Germany towards a better social and ecological future.
Gaston Brandes
Head of Institutional Portfolio Manager EMEA
Franklin Real Asset Advisors
Mr. Brandes holds an MBA and a BSc. in Small Business/Entrepreneurship from Florida Atlantic University.
Susanne Bregy
Head of Impact Investing
Phineo
Having worked for many years for traditional private equity and hedge funds in Munich and London, Susanne Bregy set up Rhodanus Capital in 2012 to focus on sustainable and impact investing. She worked with impact PE/VC funds and with traditional and impact investors in order bring impact investing into the mainstream.
In 2021, she took over the position of Head of Impact Investing at PHINEO gAG. With regard to impact investing, PHINEO specializes in impact investing measurement for investors and asset manager and in impact investing advisory.
Susanne Bregy grew up in Switzerland, studied Philosophy and Business Administration in Munich, worked and lived in London and New York and is currently based in Frankfurt.
Berenice Brügel
Sustainability Analyst
GLS Investment Management
Berenice Brügel is a sustainability analyst at GLS Investments. The sustainability research of GLS Investments is an inhouse department ensuring the social and ecological standards for GLS investment funds. Berenice focuses on the social and ecological audit of corporate and financial entities. Berenice also deals with the question how gender equality can be integrated in product development. Among others, she engages in working groups for gender equality within GLS Bank and the financial sector. Previously, she studied in Passau and Québéc and completed an international master’s program in Sustainability Management in Hamburg. During her studies she worked as a research assistant at the University of Hamburg conducting research on the development of the sustainable investment market. She also worked in sustainable finance for the French research agency Novethic in Paris.
Anna-Lena Budde
Deputy Managing Director
Norddeutsche Kirchliche Versorgungskasse (NKVK)
Young-jin Choi
Head of Research Impact Investing
PHINEO
Young-jin is currently heading the impact investment practice at PHINEO gAG where he has led the development of various social impact bonds as well as an impact investing vehicle for impact startups that use technology as a force for good. He is currently focused on promoting climate impact investing as well as *systemic* impact measurement and management. Prior to joining PHINEO, Young-jin served as an investment manager at 3M’s corporate venture capital unit and worked in a variety of industries and regions as a strategy consultant at Monitor Group (now Monitor Deloitte). Young-jin holds several master’s degrees: in Mechanical Engineering (RWTH Aachen), in International Business Studies (University of Maastricht) as well as in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (LMU Munich).
Christian Chrobok, CIIA, CCrA
Head of Capital Markets
Volkswohl Bund Gruppe
Christian Chrobok has been in charge of investments at Volkswohl Bund since 2016 and is also responsible for risk management in this function.
Previously, Mr. Chrobok was Head of the Credit Team and Senior Portfolio Manager at Gothaer Versicherung. He was also Client Portfolio Manager at Fidelity and Senior Portfolio Manager at Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank.
Degree in Business Administration, Taxes and Finance from the University of Applied Sciences Mainz; Certified Credit Analyst as well as Certified International Investment Analyst.
Dr. Ingo Dahm
Founder and Managing Director
capacura
Dr. Ingo Dahm is a German engineer and digital pioneer of the first hour. He is considered the inventor of the mobile phone ticket and is a multiple award-winning founder, machine learning expert and world champion in robot football.
After a career focused on education and innovation in various Fortune500 companies, he founded Europe’s most innovative impact investor – capacura GmbH – with his business partners in 2018. The company focuses on early-stage, well-scaling, mostly tech startups in the health, education and environment sectors. Artificial intelligence methods and algorithms are used to identify the most promising impact companies and to fundamentally reduce the relatively expensive selection costs in the early phase.
At the same time, capacura Startup Investment is building companies as a franchise system and democratising the investment process. This makes impact investment accessible to many people and closes the structural financing gap – the „Valley of Death“ between business angels and the larger impact investment funds.
Oliver Dreher, LL.M.
Partner and Head of the Debt Capital Markets practice group
Dentons Europe
Oliver Dreher, LL.M. (King’s College), is a partner in Dentons’ Frankfurt office and Head of the Debt Capital Markets (DCM) practice group in Germany. His main areas of expertise include corporate, bank and sovereign bonds, MTN-, CP- and structured issuance programmes, structured finance products, Schuldschein loans and registered bonds (Namensschuldverschreibungen), derivatives and advising on financial infrastructure, such as the clearing and settlement of financial instruments. Oliver is recognized as one of the leading bond / debt markets lawyers in leading standard directories for many years. Among other industry functions, he is a member of the LMA Working Group for Schuldschein Loans and a member of the equity and debt committee of the German Treasurers’ Association (Verband Deutscher Treasuerer, VDT).
Onur Durmus
EMEA Lead EU Green Deal and EU Taxonomy Services / Partner M&A Services
ERM
Onur Durmus has 20 years experience in ESG and sustainability, with particular expertise in ESG Strategy, EU Green Deal and EU Taxonomy, ESG Due Diligence, Energy Efficiency, Sustainability Advocacy, and Product Sustainability Performance. Onur is trained as a mechanical engineer and has a master’s in energy conversion and management. He has worked in Belgium, Germany, Turkey, and the United States for leading industrial companies and consultancies in regional and global roles.
Coralie De Maesschalck
Head of CSR & ESG
Kartesia
Anke Dembowski
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Fondsfrauen
Anke Dembowski is co-founder and managing director of Fondsfrauen GmbH, a network for women in the fund industry, which addresses gender issues in the asset management industry. In addition, she has 13 years experience as an editor for „Institutional Money“ and „Fund Professional“, and works as a writer and lecturer. She began her career in 1990, opening the first investment-fund-shop in Germany before working as a Distribution Manager for an asset manager and Independent Consultant for Investment Companies. She has worked for Lombard International S.A. in Luxembourg where she was a Marketing Manager for Germany and Austria. Anke is a published author.
Dr. Dennis Fritsch, PhD
Project Coordinator Sustainable Blue Economy
UNEP Finance Initiative
Dr. Dennis Fritsch is Member of the Secretariat and Coordinator of the United Nations’ Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Initiative, part of UNEP FI, focused on bringing banks, insurers and investors together to develop guidance and tools to enable financial institutions to align their activities with a sustainable ocean economy. The initiative is the host of the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles; the gold-standard for investing in the ocean economy. Previously, Dennis established the Research department at Responsible Investor, where he led several investor research projects, most recently ‘Investors & the Blue Economy’. He also worked as a consultant and expert jury member for the European Commission’s BlueInvest Fund and BLUE Marine Foundation. After graduating from the University of Tübingen (GER), Dennis worked in research at the University of Cambridge and was awarded a PhD from University College London.
Steffen Fuchs
Investment Strategist Liquid Assets
VPV Versicherungen
After a classical banking apprenticeship at Dresdner Bank in 1993 and a subsequent specialisation in securities investments, I was a securities advisor for high-end private clients. This was followed by a move into corporate banking with the task of advising the larger medium-sized companies on securities investments, but especially on foreign exchange and interest rate hedging and optimisation.
After 12 years, HSBC brought me in. Here I successfully built up and made profitable the new place for interest rates and foreign exchange at the Stuttgart location for the corporate client business.The move to HSBC’s German headquarters in Düsseldorf was inevitable. There, as COO in the Corporate Clients – Global Markets division, I improved the operational interfaces, restructured the adherence to and monitoring of compliance and supervisory requirements as well as parts of the reporting and successfully accompanied the strategic realignment of the division.
At VPV, I have been responsible for the liquid assets of around 6.5 billion euros (approx. 90% of the investments) since 2014. In 2018, I initiated, developed and implemented a management system based on ESG criteria, which is continuously being developed further.I am a co-founder of the cross-divisional VPV sustainability team. The topic of ESG and sustainability has thus gained further momentum and VPV is well positioned in this regard.
Dr. Ilga Haubelt
Investment Leader Equity Income Team
Newton Investment Management
Ilga joined Newton in 2019 to head up the firm’s equity opportunities team. In late March 2020 it was announced Ilga would move across to lead the Newton equity income team during Q2 2020 and be part of the management team for the Newton Global Equity Income strategy.
Prior to joining Newton, Ilga was head of Global Equities at Deka Investments, where she oversaw a team of more than 20 portfolio managers with €15bn of assets under management. She was also the lead manager of Deka’s flagship global equity income fund.
Before joining Deka Investments, Ilga was a portfolio manager and research analyst at Union Investment, where she was lead manager of a North American generalist equities fund, a REIT, and a global listed real estate equities fund. Ilga began her asset management career with Munich Ergo Asset Management (MEAG) as a real estate specialist.
Ilga has a PhD in economics, as well as masters degrees in economics and Roman languages, from the University of Freiburg in Germany.
Dr. Olivia Henke
Board Member
Stiftung Allianz für Entwicklung und Klima
Dr. Olivia Henke holds a degree in geography and did her doctorate in International Environmental Policy at the Free University of Berlin on the voluntary offset market in Germany and the poverty impacts of voluntary climate protection projects. She has more than 20 years of professional experience in the thematic fields of sustainable development, including as a consultant for sustainability management and in development education work. Since 2011, she has worked as managing director for the non-profit Klima-Kollekte – Kirchlicher Kompensationsfonds and in this capacity initially built up the CO2 compensation fund and subsequently expanded it, e.g. with shareholder houses in Austria and Switzerland.
Sandrine Henton
Chief Executive and Investment Director
Educate Global
Sandrine Henton has 15 years of experience in strategy consulting and investments, formerly with HSBC Bank. She is a member of the Emerging Market Private Equity Association and Convergence Blended Finance platform. Sandrine holds an MSc in International Business from Maastricht University, and graduated from the Impact Investing Programme at Said Business School.
Lucy Holmes
Senior Program Manager for Seafood Finance
WWF UK
Lucy Holmes is the Senior Program Manager for Seafood Finance with the WWF-US Markets & Food team and is hosted by WWF-UK. As part of the commodity finance team, Lucy focuses on the seafood sector and understanding ways to align capital with sustainable seafood practices. This includes understanding financial flows and incentives as well as developing business cases for the transition to sustainability within the seafood sector. Prior to joining WWF, Lucy managed the Marine Programme at the Prince of Wales’s International Sustainability Unit (ISU) with a focus on sustainable Blue Economy and sustainable finance in the fisheries sector.
Paul Holthus
Founding President & CEO
World Ocean Council (WOC)
Paul Holthus founded the World Ocean Council (WOC) – the Global Blue Economy Business and Investment Organization – the international alliance for leadership, collaboration and action on sustainable development, bringing together investment, innovators, and all ocean industry sectors.
Paul established the WOC’s “Ocean Investment Platform” which links investors, ocean industries and innovator. This includes the “Ocean Investor Roundtable” and the “Global Blue Economy Innovation Initiatives Network” for ocean accelerators, incubators, challenge competitions. He created the annual Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS), which has been the premier high-level global “Corporate Ocean Responsibility” business event since 2010 and has announced plans for the Global Blue Finance Summit (BlueFIN) series to start.
Paul has held senior positions with UN and other international organizations and worked in 30+ countries. He is a regular speaker at international business and investment events and the only global ocean industry organization representative invited to address the UN General Assembly.
Christina Juhasz
Chief Investment Officer
Women’s World Banking Asset Management
Christina (CJ) Juhasz is the Chief Investment Officer of WWB Asset Management (WAM,) a subsidiary of Women’s World Banking, responsible for raising and investing private equity funds with a gender-lens. To date, WAM has $125M in asset under management through two private equity funds — WWB Capital Partners, LP and WWB Capital Partners II, LP –that provide growth capital, and research-driven market and organizational solutions to guide portfolio companies in reaching more women as customers and workforce assets. WAM leverages its influence as an investor to encourage its portfolio companies to increase women’s access to financial services and to increase the recruitment, advancement and equal pay of women as staff and leaders of those companies. These are winning strategies for gaining market share and the upper hand in the war for talent. The funds have invested in 13 portfolio companies covering Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, South- and South-east Asia. The companies offer financial products and services to un- and under- served populations, especially women, including micro-enterprise, small business, agriculture and affordable housing loans; savings and payments services and micro- insurance products. Prior to founding WAM, CJ was the director of Women’s World Banking’s capital markets group.
Prior to joining Women’s World Banking, CJ served in increasing positions of responsibility in Deutsche Bank’s fixed income group in New York and London and Merrill Lynch’s capital markets group in New York. CJ began her career as a military police platoon leader in the United States Army, serving in Germany and the US.
CJ holds a BS from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from Stanford University. She is a 2013 Eisenhower Fellow.
Sabine Kaiser
Founder
SK Advisory
After management consulting at McKinsey&Co. Sabine turned to the VC industry which has been at the core of her activities for the last 20+ years. She has been an early-stage VC in Life Science, a global VC fund of funds investor on behalf of a single-family office and a venture builder, including currently for RWTH Aachen university.
For the Ashoka subsidiary FASE she has been mobilizing investors for social start-ups and supports both FASE and CH-based seif in “for impact” roles. As SKadvisory, she consults across the VC universe, from start-ups to institutional investors, incl. as Special Advisor on Sustainability with Blue Future Partners, a VC Fund of Funds focused on emerging managers. With Masters Degrees both in Biomedical Science and Public Policy and as an IHK-certified business mediator Sabine contributes an interdisciplinary perspective supported by a broad network in deep tech as well as the financial industry.
Navindu Katugampola, CFA
Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainability
Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Navindu Katugampola is the Global Head of Sustainability for Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) and the Global Head of Sustainable Investing for MSIM Fixed Income and Liquidity teams. He also co-chairs MSIM’s Sustainability Council. He joined the firm in 2004 and has 17 years of industry experience. Navindu was previously the Head of Green & Sustainability Bond Origination for Morgan Stanley’s Global Capital Markets group. In this role he helped issuers raise over $80Bn in Green, Social & Sustainability Bonds and served on both the Executive Committee and the Advisory Council of the ICMA Green and Social Bond Principles. Navindu was also previously the Head of Sovereign, Supranational and Agency Debt Origination for Morgan Stanley. In addition to his MSIM role, Navindu works with Morgan Stanley EMEA Firm Management on cross-divisional Sustainable Finance initiatives, product innovation and policy & regulatory engagement. Navindu received a B.A. in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, graduating with 1st class honours. He has completed all 3 levels of the CFA® exams.
Christoph Klein, CFA, CEFA
Managing Partner
ESG Portfolio Management
Christoph M. Klein, CFA, CEFA is managing partner and portfolio manager at ESG Portfolio Management GmbH. Previously, he served as a partner at nordIX AG and as portfolio strategist, head ESG credit, managing director at Deutsche Asset Management.
Before rejoining Deutsche Asset Management in 2007, he served as partner and head of fixed-income credit at TriPoint Asset Management. Mr. Klein also worked as a multi- strategy Portfolio Manager for credit hedge funds at CPM Advisors and as an analyst and portfolio manager for corporate and convertible bonds at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management. He has served as a visiting scholar at Salomon Center for the Study of Financial Institutions at New York University.
Mr. Klein began his career as a private banking investment strategy analyst at Deutsche Bank. He served as a member of the UN PRI Fixed Income Working Group and is a member of the DVFA Sustainable Investing Commission. He received his diploma in business administration from the University of Trier.
Thomas Klein
Managing Director
DEG Impact
Thomas Klein has more than 20 years of experience in the financial sector – both in established markets as well as in developed and emerging countries. Before co-founding DEG Impact, he was at DEG mainly responsible for private equity & mezzanine fund & co-investments in Asia and Afrika. In his function he also served as board member in portfolio companies as well as funds. Prior to DEG, he worked for CAM Private Equity and Deloitte in the area of transaction services / M&A. He holds a degree in business administration from the University of Cologne.
Dr. Steffen Knodt
Head of Sustainable Subsea Solutions Centre
Fraunhofer Institute
Dr. Steffen Knodt is the Head of the Sustainable Subsea Solutions Centre at the Fraunhofer-Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD, Rostock where he takes care for the transfer to market of underwater technologies. In Rostock, Fraunhofer together with industry, university and other research institutes are building an ocean technology campus with a strong focus on sustainable ocean economy. Dr. Knodt worked over his career in various senior management roles in applied research and industry, recently as Director Digital Ventures with a focus on impact entrepreneurship, Dr. Knodt as well serves in various boards and as a mentor for startups. Currently, he serves in the German Committee for the UN Ocean Decade of Science for Sustainable Development, as well he serves a member of the board in the German Association for Marine Technology GMT.
Andreas Knörzer
Vice-Chairman
Vontobel Asset Management
Andreas Knörzer is Vice-Chairman at Vontobel Asset Management, member of the ESG Investment Governance Committee and Senior ESG Expert and Project Manager. Previously, he was Co-Head of Sustainable & Thematic and Head of Sustainable Investing Boutique and was with Vescore AG (founded in July 2015 within Raiffeisen Switzerland) Business Unit Head Asset Management and Deputy CEO. From 2013 to 2015, he was Head of Asset Management and a member of the Executive Board at Notenstein Privatbank AG, which also belongs to Raiffeisen.
At Bank J. Safra Sarasin in Basel, he held various positions in financial analysis and asset management from 1989 to 2013, most recently as Head of Asset Management. During this time, as a pioneer in sustainable asset management, he established the sustainable product range and played a key role in positioning the bank as a market leader in this area.
Andreas Knörzer holds a federal diploma in business administration and a federal diploma in banking. His education was followed by several further training courses (Executive Program, Swiss Finance Institute, Senior Executive Program, Columbia University New York).
He is a member of the strategy committee of EnergieSchweiz, a program of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, co-leader of the working group Wealth & Asset Management at the industry association Swiss Sustainable Finance and serves as a sustainability expert in various working groups of other associations and authorities. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board of Sustainable Real Estate AG, Zurich and is politically active at local and cantonal level.
Dr. Klaus Kunz
Head of Sustainability & Business Stewardship
Bayer
Dr. Klaus Kunz holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry and a degree in economics. He joined Bayer in 2001 and has gained 18 years of experience directing business strategic topics in R&D at a global level, taking leadership roles in research, R&D project management, and regulatory and public / governmental affairs, including issues management and stakeholder engagement. Since 2018 he is leading Sustainability & Business Stewardship in Bayer Crop Science. Klaus is passionate about driving innovation and change, cross-cultural collaboration, politics and history, also holding a lectureship for chemistry at the University of Aachen. He is married with three children.
Dr. Fabian Lander
Head of Front Office Finance and Treasury
Vonovia
Dr. Fabian Lander has over 15 years of experience in the financial and banking industry. Fabian is an expert in real estate, corporate, and sustainable finance. At Vonovia Fabian is heading the Front Office at the Finance and Treasury division. In that function he is responsible for all liquidity and funding needs of Vonovia group.
Before Fabian joined Vonovia he headed the corporate finance and sustainability department of VW Immobilien for 7 years. He issued the first green bond of a German real estate company for which VW Immobilien received the immobilienmanager award in financing in 2019. Prior to that he worked almost 10 years at Eurohypo AG in different roles and positions.
He is a frequent speaker at conferences and contributed to numerous publications in German and International media by interview or own submission.
Larissa Lapschies
Non-executive Director
Akademie der Immobilienwirtschaft
A sense for innovation and a strong passion for real estate is what describes Larissa Lapschies well. She offers a wide range of professional expertise in the real estate industry. Internationally, as German Market Leader at RICS, as non-executive director at ADI and as managing director of Germany’s largest next generation network, the Immobilienjunioren. She stands for entrepreneurial courage, team thinking and the values of a new generation.
Britta Lindhorst
Managing Director – Head of European Investments
HQ Capital
Britta Lindhorst has been Managing Director of HQ Capital, based in Bad Homburg, since 2012. The HQ Capital Group is one of the leading independent investment managers for alternative capital investments and manages assets of more than US$ 8,3 billion. She is responsible for the European private equity business and the development and implementation of the European strategy for funds of funds and large institutional mandates. She is also responsible for the ESG and impact strategy for the global private equity business. She has more than 30 years of investment experience, the last 17 of which have been in private equity. Prior to HQ Capital, she was at Generali Group, where she was Managing Director re- sponsible for the investments and management of Generali’s €1.5 billion private equity portfolio.
Prior to that, she was responsible for equity analysis at Sal. Oppenheim in Cologne. Ms. Lind- horst graduated from the University of Cologne with a master’s degree in economics (focused on banking and tax law).
Martina Macpherson
Head of ESG Strategy and ExCo Member
ODDO BHF Asset Management & Private Equity
Martina Macpherson is Head of ESG Strategy and an ExCo Member for ODDO BHF Asset Management & Private Equity. She is also President of the Network of Sustainable Financial Markets, a NextGen think tank in Sustainable Finance.
Martina has held several global leadership roles in ESG strategy, product development and innovation including Senior Vice President, ESG and Engagement Strategy at Moody’s, Global Head of ESG Index Products and Research at S&P DJI, Managing Director of Sustainable Investments Partners Ltd. and Vice President of ESG Solutions at MSCI. Prior to this, she worked in (ESG) product, research and engagement roles at Insight Investment, F&C AM and at Deutsche Bank AG.
She is involved in various academic research projects in the field, and a visiting fellow in sustainable finance at University of Zurich and Henley Business School. She has an MBA certificate in finance and business from LSBF / UK, and a MA in Law and Human Sciences from University of Frankfurt in Germany. She is a fellow member of the Institute for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (ICRS) UK, a honorary doctoral fellow of the Institute for Certified Risk Management Professionals (ICRMP) UK, and an alumnus of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes).
Martina has been a member of multiple sustainable finance associations and policy working groups at an EU and an international level. Currently, Martina is a co-chair of ICMA’s AMIC EU Regulatory / SFDR Working Group, a member of the European Law Institute’s Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee and a founding member of the PRI/WBA and Finance for Tomorrow Just Transition Working Groups. In addition, she sits on the the Enterprise Data Management Council’s Working Group on ESG Data, Innovation, Technology and Metrics.
She is a public speaker in sustainable investing and has co-authored a range of ESG and Fintech books, including “The AI Book” (Wiley, 2020), “Handbook on Species Extinction Accounting and Biodiversity” (Routledge, to be published in 09/2021), and “ESG in Portfolio Construction” (RiskBooks, to be published in 02/2022).‘
Wiebke Merbeth
Head of Public Affairs & Sustainability
BayernInvest
Wiebke Merbeth is Head of Public Affairs & Sustainability at BayernInvest Kapitalverwaltungs-
gesellschaft mbH. She is an expert in the implementation of sustainability approaches at investment and corporate level and is supporting BayernInvest’s alignment to become a 100% ESG manager. This involves communication with external and internal stakeholders as well as exchanges with umbrella organisations. Wiebke Merbeth is also a member of the German government’s Sustainable Finance Advisory Board.
Dr. Martina Mettgenberg-Lemière
International Expert in Impact Investing
Dr. Martina Mettgenberg-Lemière is an international expert in impact investing. Over the last 15 years, she contributed to praxis in the human capital and impact investing sectors in Asia (India and Singapore) and Europe. Her last two positions included leading the ESG and impact management at GLS Treuhand and building as well as leading the insights section at AVPN in Singapore. Prior to this she worked at INSEAD, the Human Capital Leadership Institute and Evalueserve.
She holds a BA (Hons) in Comparative Religions and Anthropology from the University of Manchester, MSc in Anthropology from the University of Manchester and a PhD in Accounting and Finance from the University of Manchester.
Paul Miller
Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer
Bethnal Green Ventures
Paul Miller is a Managing Partner and CEO of Bethnal Green Ventures – Europe´s leading tech for good venture capital firm. Having pioneered tech for good investing since 2012, Paul has invested in over 140 early-stage tech companies creating positive impact for a sustainable planet, a better society and healthy lives. BGV was the UK’s first VC firm to become a B Corp in 2015 – balancing purpose with profit, and is one of the UK’s most active investors. Paul has advised leading companies and governments on tech for good and was previously a founder and CEO of an education technology venture. In 2020 Paul received an OBE from the Queen for services to startup investing.
Jörg Mugrauer
Managing Partner
Quadriga Capital
Jörg Mugrauer is a Managing Partner at Quadriga Capital. Quadriga Capital is a leading midcap private equity advisory firm targeting DACH mid-market companies in the Healthcare, Tech-Enabled Services and Smart Industries sectors. Funds advised by the company have completed more than 150 transactions during the last 20 years. The achievement of a measurable ESG and societal impact approach is an important part of Quadriga Capital’s investment policy. Jörg has been part of the team since 2006 and involved in numerous transformation and expansion processes, also heading the sector Smart Industries. Furthermore, he heads Quadriga Capital´s ESG & Impact team overseeing the Funds’ impact investment strategy and supporting their investee companies in creating top quartile ESG ratings and a positive impact for society and environment. Prior to joining, he worked for several years at AlpInvest Partners. Jörg studied at the University of Washington and holds a Master of Finance and Economics degree from the University of Vienna.
Kevin Naumann
Senior Manager Financial Services Asset Management
KPMG
Kevin Naumann is an expert in advising financial institutions – especially Asset Management firms – with implementing the requirements of the EU Action Plan along the value chain. Within KPMG he is leading the Sustainable finance campaign for Asset Management in Germany. Helping clients starts with the definition of the ambition in the context of sustainability as well as the governance of the asset management firm. Furthermore, Kevin helps his clients to define the right range of products offered to the clients, using ESG-Data form different Data vendors, and combining the different parameters within the investment approaches used. Therefore, he is used to several ESG-Data-Sources, the requirements of financial institutions as well as the currently available coverage of ESG-Data.
Roger Naylor
Portfolio Manager
Evli Bank
Over 17-years’ experience in global forestry investment and asset management. Created access to forestry investment for institutional investors, family offices and high-net-worth individuals, analysing forestry investment vehicles at a global scale. Able to leverage a global network of forestry fund managers, owners and service providers to create a pipeline of opportunities. Experienced in portfolio management to deliver asset level and fund performance. Proven investment track record having led the detailed evaluation of prospective forestry funds targeting over USD 3.7 billion of commitments, with over USD 725 million subsequently invested by clients. Investment Committee experience combining technical forestry skills, market knowledge and investment analysis.
Dr. Andreas Nilsson
Managing Director and Head of Impact
Golding Capital Partners
Dr. Andreas Nilsson is Managing Director and Head of Impact at Golding Capital Partners and responsible for impact investments. He joined the Golding team in May 2021. Prior joining Golding, Mr Nilsson was Managing Partner of Sonanz, an Impact-focused fund-of-funds which he founded in 2015. Before that, he worked as a private equity investor at EQT and UBS. Mr Nilsson holds a PhD in Finance from the Stockholm School of Economics and spent two years as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Business School. The topic of his doctoral dissertation was “The Financing of Nonprofits and Social Enterprises”. Mr Nilsson earned his MSc from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Frieder Olfe
Head of Business Development
imug | rating
Frieder Olfe is Head of Business Development at imug | rating, Germany’s leading agency for customized ESG research. His responsibilities focus on marketing, sales and advising new clients, especially from the investor & financial intermediary sectors. Previously, he worked in management consultancies, non-profits and universities on the topics of CSR, marketing and digitalization. Frieder Olfe holds a Master’s degree in Sustainable Business Management and is an event manager (IHK).
Stephanie Petrick
Senior Advisor Impact Investing
Phineo
Stephanie Petrick is seasoned impact investing expert and Senior Advisor Impact Investing at Phineo. She has more than 15 years of experience advising private investors, family offices, investment funds, foundations and international corporations in Europe and the US and led Phineo´s impact investing division until 2020.
Previously, Stephanie Petrick worked for the German impact investing pioneer Impact in Motion, for Ashoka Germany and was Principal at L.E.K. Consulting, an international strategy consultancy. She is a graduate of the European School of Business in Reutlingen (D) and the Reims Management School (F) and holds a degree in Foundation Management from the European Business School in Oestrich- Winkel (D).
Sebastián Popik
Founder & Managing Partner
Aqua Capital
Sebastián Popik is the founder and Managing Partner of Sao Paulo-based Aqua Capital, a private equity firm investing in middle-market agribusiness and food companies. Mr. Popik has 16 years of private equity experience in South America with a full focus on agribusiness, food and logistics and a comprehensive operational approach to value creation. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Comfrio, Brazil’s largest cold-storage logistics operator, and Fertiláqua, one of the main producers of high value-added micronutrients and biostimulants in Brazil. He is also Chairman of the Board of Grand Cru leading wine importer, distributor and retailer in Brazil, Geneseas, a leading tilapia production integrated player and Yes, a high-technology additives producer for animal nutrition. Previously, he ran healthcare services operator Salutia and consulted for Booz & Co in Latin America. Mr Popik earned a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University, which he attended as a Fulbright Scholar, and a BA in Economics from Universidad de San Andrés. He has two children.
Tim Radjy
Founder & Managing Partner
AlphaMundi Group
Tim RADJY is the Founder and Managing Partner of AlphaMundi Group since 2008, and based in Geneva, Switzerland. He is also the Chairman of AlphaMundi’s SocialAlpha Investment Fund (SAIF) in Luxembourg, the Treasurer of AlphaMundi Foundation (AMF) in Washington DC, and leads the Investment Committee of the AlphaJiri Fund in Mauritius. Tim is a Vice-President of the industry association Sustainable Finance Geneva (SFG), the founding Chair of the Gender Lens Initiative for Switzerland (GLIS), a member of the Building Bridges Supply & Demand group, a chronicler for the Swiss financial newspaper AGEFI, and the promoter of the Invest2030 educational webinar series. Previously, Tim worked at MSCI, UBS, served as an advisor to WWF International and helped assess the Swiss development agency’s microfinance program in Bolivia. Tim holds a Private Banking Diploma from UBS and a Political Science degree from the University of Geneva, and is fluent in English, French and Spanish.
Albert Reiter, CFA
Chief Executive Officer
investRFP.com und investESG.eu
Philipp Rühle
Executive Director Institutional Sales
ISS ESG
Philipp Rühle has been responsible for ISS’ sales in Germany as an Account Executive since mid-2019. In this position, he oversees the further development of existing customer relationships as well as advising new customers in the ESG segment, which continues to grow rapidly. Philipp Rühle joined oekom research as an sustainability analyst in 2006 before he became head of the “Extractives & Utilities” research team. From January 2016, he built up global client service at oekom research. Before entering the sustainable finance arena, Mr. Rühle worked for the Green Party in the Bavarian State Parliament for three years.
Maren Schmitz
Partner and Head of Management Consulting Banking, Asset Management & Real Estate
KPMG
Maren Schmitz is a partner at KPMG and leads the asset management advisory business in Germany. Her focus is on the future topics of asset management, from technological challenges to the implementation of the sustainability agenda as well as regulatory and compliance topics. Prior to joining KPMG in 2008, she worked as a portfolio manager for several asset managers and banks with a strong focus on the assessment and valuation of financial instruments. Maren Schmitz is Head of the ESG and Sustainable Finance campaign at KPMG for Asset Management and advises asset managers on the holistic integration of sustainability issues into their organization.
Prof. Dr. Dirk Söhnholz
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Soehnholz ESG
Prof. Dr. Dirk Soehnholz (1963) is the founder and CEO of Soehnholz ESG GmbH, book author, honorary professor of asset management at Leipzig University and a blogger on Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) and Robo-Advisor topics (www.prof-soehnholz.com). Previously he worked for The Boston Consulting Group, Feri Alternative Asset, Feri Institutional Advisors and Veritas Investment.
Related Websites:
www.soehnholzesg.com
www.prof-soehnholz.com
Dr. Katharina Sommerrock
Head of Investor Relations
Lightrock
Dr. Katharina Sommerrock is Head of Investor Relations at Lightrock, a global private equity platform investing for financial, social and environmental returns since 2007. Before her role at Lightrock, Katharina held several positions at LGT Group, the international private banking and asset management group, contributing to the areas of sustainable investing, impact investing and venture philanthropy: she joined LGT Venture Philanthropy as Head of Client Relations in 2013. Subsequently, she also coordinated internal and external communication, advisory, trainings and representation on LGT Group’s activities in sustainability, sustainable investing, social impact, corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Before joining LGT, she was a project leader at the international strategy consulting firm Bain & Company, where she focused on financial services and private equity. In 2009, she received a PhD for her award-winning dissertation on “Social entrepreneurship business models”. She holds a Master in International Business Administration from the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in Germany.
Yulia Stark
President
European Women Association (EWA)
Jussi Tanninen
Head of Alternatives
Mandatum Asset Management
Mr. Tanninen is the Head of External Alternatives and leads the team of portfolio managers doing the manager selection in private debt, real estate and private equity. He is a member of Mandatum Asset Management’s Leveraged Loan strategies’ investment committee. Previous responsibilities include being the CFO in private equity owned company where he was responsible for negotiation of the financing package for the LBO and add-on acquisitions (including a bank and two second lien loan providers). He has also been the main portfolio manager in Real Estate Private Equity fund where he was responsible also for the financing package for the Fund’s portfolio. Additionally, he has worked in M&A and in other roles in asset management industry with combined tenure of 19 years. Education: Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration) at Helsinki School of Economics.
Sarah Teacher
Executive Director
Impact Investing Institute
Sarah Teacher is Executive Director of the Impact Investing Institute, a non-profit organisation that seeks to accelerate the growth and improve the effectiveness of the impact investing market in the UK and internationally. Previously, Sarah worked at Lendlease Europe as Social Impact Investment Manager within its European Investment Management business and has worked in roles at the intersection of social impact, sustainability, and private capital. Sarah was a Director for Next Generation Philanthropy at the Institute for Philanthropy and currently serves as a Director of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and its European Chair.
Dr. Christin ter-Braak Forstinger, LL.M.
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Chi Impact Capital
Dr. Christin ter Braak-Forstinger, LL.M. is the co-founder and CEO of Chi Impact Capital in Zurich an independent Impact Fund Advisor advising a Luxembourg based impact fund.
Christin is passionate about pro-actively making the shift towards a regenerative and deep impact economy a reality. Christin has a long-standing experience and a 15 year+ track record in the financial services sector, private equity, the impact investing field, sustainable investing, strategic philanthropy advisory and the collaboration with international organizations and public stakeholders.
Christin completed her Doctoral Thesis at Harvard Law School (summa cum laude) and her Master Studies at Duke Law School; She has published numerous peer reviewed articles and papers in the field of sustainable investing and impact investing, authored and co-authored several books the latest of which is “Conscious Investing”; Christin is a lecturer at various universities on impact investing; Privately, Christin is the co-founder and president of award winning NGO Braveaurora, active in North Ghana since 2009.
Isabelle Juillard Thompsen, CFA
Portfolio Manager
DNB Asset Management
Isabelle Juillard Thompsen, CFA, joined DNB Asset Management in the beginning of 2021 as portfolio manager for DNB Fund Future Waves. Isabelle Thompsen has gained extensive international experience with Equity investing in the USA and Norway, and 10-year experience in sustainable investments from various positions within the industry. During her career she has been portfolio manager and research analyst with among others Gjensidigestiftelsen, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) and Storebrand. She is a CFA Charterholder, holds an MBA from Pacific Lutheran University, MSC in Management and Finance from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Bordeaux and studies in Sustainable investments in natural resources from Columbia University.
Victor van Hoorn
Executive Director
Eurosif
Prior to Eurosif, Victor was Head of Financial Services at Hume Brophy, a leading EU public affairs consultancy, advising asset managers and asset owners on their engagement with EU policymakers. In that role he closely followed the EU sustainable finance since its inception.
Victor is and attorney-at-law admitted to the New York and Amsterdam bar. He holds the French and Dutch citizenship.
Etienne Vincent
Head of Quant Strategy and Marketing
Ossiam
Gesa Vögele
Member of the Management
CRIC
Gesa Vögele is member of the management at CRIC, an association for the promotion of ethics and sustainability in investment. Within the scope of this activity, she deals, among other things, with the political and regulatory developments around sustainable finance, but also with topics such as ethical- sustainable real estate investments or engagement. She has recently initiated an anthology on the latter, which is expected to be published at the end of 2020.
Gesa is a member of the ethics advisory board of Pax-Bank and supports On Purpose as a mentor. Before joining CRIC, she worked more than seven years for a sustainable investment association. Other previous positions include a publishing house and research institutions. Gesa studied economics and political science at the University of Cologne and completed a journalistic training.
Dr. Cora Voigt
Senior Investment Manager – Real Assets
EB-SIM
Dr. Cora Voigt is deal driven Senior Investment Manager with the Real Asset Department of EB-SIM. She has more than 10 years experience in origination and acquisition of energy related infrastructure in mature and emerging markets. For EB-SIM she invests in renewable energy projects and is responsible for the EB-SME fund, which provides capital to financial institutions in emerging markets together with the DEG. Previously, she has worked for the Infrastructure Investments division at the insurance group Talanx with transaction responsibility of > EUR 400m and developed renewable energy projects such as hydropower in Peru and wind energy in Eastern Africa at EnBW (3rd largest German utility). She holds a PhD in economics and has specialized in her academic research on economic development and autocratic change.
Monika Waber
Head of Organisation and People Development
Swiss Re
Monika Waber joined Swiss Re Ltd. from UBS AG per August 2011 as Head Human Resources Reinsurance. In this role she partnered with the CEO and Executive Team and was responsible for the end-to-end delivery of strategic human resources to Reinsurance, the largest business unit within Swiss Re.
In January 2017 she took over as the Head of Organisation & People Development. Together with her team she is globally responsible for organization development, executive and leadership development, performance development, learning, strategic resourcing and talent as well as diversity & inclusion for the entire Swiss Re group. Ms Waber is a Human Resources professional with more than 20 years of experience across all HR disciplines in Financial Services.
Monika Waber has spent the early part of her career in the Investment Bank unit of UBS AG, followed by various roles within the corporate and group environment.
During her career she has worked in a number of HR specialist areas such as International Benefits & Compensation, International Mobility and Recruitment.
Additionally, she has held Human Resources Business Partner Roles in various areas in global capacity. Through her roles she has gained specific experience in organisational and cultural change management, performance management, leadership development and executive coaching.
Ms Waber was born in 1973 and is a Swiss and German dual citizen. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master of Advanced Studies in Human Systems Engineering, with specialization on Coaching, Leadership and Organisational Development.
Johannes P. Weber
Program Manager Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing
BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt
Johannes P. Weber is program manager at BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt and mainly responsible for activities in the field of impact investing and Sustainable Finance – an issue he had advanced already at the Eberhard von Kuenheim Foundation and the Bertelsmann Foundation. Among other things, he has contributed to a handbook on impact investing specifically aimed at German foundations and helped implement a pilot fund for Mission Related Investments. Before joining the foundation sector, he gained experiences in public administration and worked as a researcher at an interdisciplinary research cluster at the University of Frankfurt.
Volker Weber
Chairman of the Board
Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen (FNG)
Jessica Zarzycki, CFA
Portfolio Manager
Nuveen
Jessica is a portfolio manager for Nuveen’s global fixed income team. She is an integral part of the ESG/Impact fixed income strategy team and co-portfolio manager on the Core Impact Bond, Green Bond and Short Duration Impact Bond strategies. Jessica’s analyst responsibilities include sovereigns and local markets throughout Western Europe. She is a frequent panelist and speaker at ESG and Impact conferences and a member of the ICMA Advisory Board, which provides insight and guidance to the Executive Committee on issues affecting the Green, Social, and Sustainable Bond markets.
Jessica joined the firm in 2008 as an agency MBS analyst before joining the International/EMD sector team as a European sovereign and agency analyst. Prior to Nuveen, she worked at Citi Global Wealth Management (GWM), helping to manage liquidity and risk of the GWM balance sheet.
Jessica graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance from The Ohio State University. She holds the CFA designation and is a member of the CFA Society New York and the CFA Institute.
Janina Lichnofsky
Head of ESG
MEAG
Janina Lichnofsky is Head of ESG at MEAG, the asset manager of Munich Re and ERGO. Janina has been at MEAG since July 2020 in a capacity as Senior Specialist Sustainability. Before she joined MEAG, Janina was Head of ISS ESG Client Success at Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). She was responsible for ISS’ team of market-facing ESG Specialists based in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, advising asset managers and asset owners on ESG. Prior to that Janina managed the Green Bond Team and worked as an ESG Analyst at oekom research. Janina has been active in ESG and sustainability for several years: She worked as a sustainability consultant and she has been involved in projects of international NGOs and foundations, both in Germany and abroad. Janina holds a M.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany.
Michael Schmidt
Deputy Head
UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion Office Germany
Michael Schmidt currently holds the position of Deputy Head of the UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion Office Germany. His current focus is on industrial cooperation and technology transfer into emerging markets and developing economies. Michael has over 20 years of experience in international business, investment management and trade & development. Before joining UNIDO in 2018, he worked for a leading Chinese real estate and industrial park developer. He is the founder a specialized consultancy and platform for investment co-operation between Germany and emerging and frontier markets. Michael also spent five years as managing director at German Chambers Abroad (AHK) in Eastern Europe and worked for over 10 years as a consultant in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. He studied and worked in the UK, Russia and the Balkans and holds a master’s degree in economics.
Frank Sibert
Head of Sustainable Business
BNP Paribas Germany
Since September 2016, as Head of Sustainable Business Germany and part of the management team for Corporate Banking Europe of BNP Paribas in Germany, Frank’s role encompasses the business & franchise development for Sustainable & Renewable Finance Solutions of BNPP Group towards the German and Multinational Client base.
As part of the current position, Frank is actively promoting the transfer of the business conduct towards a sustainable production and consumption across the full value chain. Frank is an active contributor to the local market initiative “Accelerating Sustainable Finance” as well as Member of the Steering Council of the “Green & Sustainable Finance Cluster Germany”, an initiative of the Land Hesse and the leading financial institutions at the Finance
Market Frankfurt. Since June 2019, he is also a member of the Advisory Board for Sustainable Finance of the Federal Government of Germany and is involved in the working group „Financial Market Stabilisation and Risk Management“.
Frank Sibert works in the banking industry for 30 years, with a strong focus on Coverage and Structured Debt Finance in Europe, the US and Russia. Frank joined BNPP Group in its Swiss unit in Geneva in 2005. Since then he held a number of Senior Management positions in for BNP Paribas Group in Russia and Germany. He holds a graduate degree in business studies (Diplom-Betriebswirt, equivalent to BA) and he is graduated from the DVFA, Frankfurt (Certified Credit Analyst). Beside this, Frank is a Member of the youth originations American Field Service, promoting intercultural youth exchanges to promote peace and global citizen recognition.
Andrew Parry
Head of Sustainable Investing
Newton Investment Management
Andrew oversees the sustainable investment business at Newton, as well as communicating the firm’s approach to purposeful ownership to its global client base. He joined Newton in 2019, prior to which he was head of sustainable investing at Hermes Investment Management where he gained a deep knowledge of responsible investment, sustainability and impact investing. Andrew has over 30 years of investment experience operating at a senior level previously working at Northern Trust, Julius Baer Investment Management, Lazard Brothers Asset Management and Baring Asset Management. He is also a member of the investment committee of the Trafalgar House Pension Trust and has had a variety of external advisory roles, including mentoring of individuals.
Andrew has an MA in Mathematics from the University of St Andrews. Outside of work, Andrew enjoys walking his dogs.