Pressing for Progress in Environment, Social and Governance

Lois Guthrie pursued a career in taxation, first at PwC and then at Zurich Insurance Group until 2016. Having joined the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in 2004, she simultaneously developed a career in climate and natural capital corporate reporting. In 2007 when the Climate Disclosure Standards Board was established, Lois was appointed Executive Director and became responsible for CDSB’s work to develop a framework for reporting on environmental information and natural capital in mainstream corporate reports. She was seconded for two years to the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) as a Technical Director during the development of the <IR> Framework. Lois is currently a director at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Re-defining Value Programme. Lois studied theology at the University of Birmingham and environmental policy at the Open University and holds an MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice.

Jeannette is a Corporate Governance Manager with responsibility for implementing LGIM’s corporate governance strategy.  Jeannette engages with companies in which LGIM invests on governance issues and has a particular focus on the pharmaceutical and financial services sectors.  She is also closely involved in developing LGIM’s public policy stance on key governance issues, and liaises regularly with regulators, governments and stakeholders on such issues.  Jeannette also represents LGIM on Legal & General Group plc’s Corporate Responsibility and Ethics Committee. She joined LGIM in September 2015 from USS Investment Management Ltd where she held the title of Senior Analyst, Responsible Investment.  Jeannette graduated from Anglia Ruskin University in 2008 and holds the CFA and CAIA charterships.    In 2014 Jeannette was recognised by Financial News as one of the 40 under 40 Rising Stars of Asset Management.

Andrea is part of the Environmental Responsibility team at the LEGO Group. She is responsible for evaluating and reporting the LEGO Group’s climate impact, ambitions and actions – to ensure compliance and drive opportunities. Andrea leads the work on exploring global shifts with companies’ climate strategies and target setting. She also works on corporate responsibility engagement activities that support CSR reputation building to maximise the engagement value with consumers and stakeholders – eg, coordinating the new Responsibility Report. In her previous role, Andrea worked as a Carbon Markets and Climate Policy analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Will Hares is a Senior Equity Research Analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence covering European Oil & Gas Exploration and Production, Integrated Oil and Offshore Energy Services. Will has previously worked in institutional oil & gas equity research and for Canadian E&P companies. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

The first and only chief political analyst to work for a major financial institution, Tina Fordham has pioneered incorporating political analysis within traditional banking research, establishing it as a critical input into the decision-making process for companies and investors during a period when political risks, especially in the advanced economies, have accelerated. Tina joined Citi in 2003, and has established a loyal following of corporate boards, institutional investors and governments, as well as Citi’s senior management, about the implications of macro global political developments.

Named a “Changemaker” in the London Evening Standard’s 2016 Progress 1000 list, and three times in the “Top 100 Most Influential Women in Finance”, Tina was most recently, in September 2017, given the accolade as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Geopolitics Experts worldwide. Tina is a member of the Corporate and Investment Bank’s Diversity Board and the Veteran’s Network at Citi, and sits on the International Advisory Council for the foreign policy think tank Carnegie Europe and the Advisory Council for Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs. Previously she served in the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit and head of global political risk at Eurasia Group, launching its financial markets research business in 1999.

Martina Macpherson is a partner at SI Partners, an independent consulting firm specializing in Climate Risk and ESG / SDG advisory, research, products, investment content, and engagement services – with over 17 years of experience in ESG consulting, asset management, banking and financial services.

She is a writer, (academic) lecturer and presenter on sustainable investment and green finance themes and contributes regularly to industry and academic publications. Most recently, she contributed to PLSA’s Guide on Climate Action for Asset Owners, Sustainable Stock Exchanges’ and City of London’s taskforce reports on green finance and policy recommendations. She is now involved in an European Capital Markets Institute (Brussels) working group to define ESG in strategic asset allocation, in the IMF/IIF’s sustainable finance working group (Washington) in the global consultation for the World Benchmarking Alliance (UK, FR, NL, DK) to establish investable SDG benchmarks.

Edward is Head of Responsible Investment at the Church Commissioners for England whose £7.9bn endowment supports the ministry of the Church of England. Edward is responsible for the implementation of the Commissioners’ ethical and responsible investment commitments. He took up his position in 2014 having previously served for five years as Secretary of the Church of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group which advises the Commissioners and the other national investing bodies of the Church on ethical investment. Edward sits on the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance (UKSIF) Policy Committee, the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) Policy Group, the advisory committee for the UN Principles for Responsible Investment hedge funds work stream and the Oxford University Socially Responsible Investment Review Committee.  Prior to working at the Church of England, Edward served for 15 years as a British diplomat, leaving in 2005 to help establish the diplomatic advisory group Independent Diplomat. He holds a degree in History from Oxford University.

Natasha joined Sarasin & Partners in 2013 where she oversees the firm’s stewardship activities. Specific areas of work include steering work on integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters into the investment process; managing voting and engagement with the internal analyst team; and leading outreach on several policy and market-related matters. Natasha manages a team of two stewardship analysts.

Natasha is a currently leading a coalition of investors to promote improved accounting and audit standards internationally. She is a member of the Audit and Accounting Committee of the International Corporate Governance Network, and participates in the Asian Corporate Governance Association sub-group on Japan. She is also involved with a number of committees promoting action to manage climate risk convened by the Institutional Investor Group on Climate Change.

Natasha has a background in development economics and responsible investment. Prior to joining Sarasin & Partners, she spent six years as the Senior Analyst leading ESG integration and several areas of policy work at the Universities Superannuation Scheme’s Investment Management arm; and four  years in Budapest working with OTP Fund Management and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Before moving into finance, Natasha spent a number of years working on sustainable development issues in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Natasha started her career as an Overseas Development Institute Fellow, working as the Chief Economist in the Guyana Forestry Commission.

Natasha has Masters in Economics from Cambridge University, an MSc in Natural Resource Economics from University College London, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Irene is the head of the Specialist Modelling Group at Foster and Partners, the practice’s research and development unit specializing in building physics, energy conservation through design and digital fabrication of innovative building components.

Her role involves assessing the impact of buildings on the environment at all stages in the design process and lead on-site performance data collection after construction. Her group at Foster and Partners acts a technology incubator exploring the opportunities new technologies present for social and environmental change. Much of it involves biophysics, neuroscience, large scale 3D printing of steel and concrete, and 3D printed extra-terrestrial habitations.

She has been involved in a wide range of projects, including the Masdar City masterplan in Abu Dhabi, the Apple headquarters in Cupertino and the Bloomberg headquarters in London.

Nejra Cehic is a London-based Anchor and Reporter for Bloomberg TV and Radio. She anchors “Bloomberg Markets: Rules and Returns” on Bloomberg TV and “Daybreak Europe” on Bloomberg Radio. She reports on financial markets on a daily basis, regularly breaking news and providing in-depth analysis.

Prior to joining Bloomberg, Cehic worked for the BBC. She has a PGDip in Broadcast Journalism from Cardiff Journalism School and a BA (Hons) in Classics and Modern Languages from the University of Oxford. She was shortlisted for an Asian Women of Achievement Award in the Media category in 2015 and named a We Are The City 2016 Top 100 Rising Star.