ENCIRCLE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- London - Based Writer, Podcaster and Producer
Alex is a London-based writer, podcaster and producer in the UK, writing across print and audio mediums. His work centres around positive masculinity, mental health awareness and the liberating power of reading and writing. He became a Mental Health First Aider with Mental Health First Aid England in October 2020. His background as a newspaper journalist has seen his writing featured in numerous media publications.
Job Titles:
- Global Head of Marketing of Man Group
Anji is Global Head of Marketing of Man Group. She is responsible for developing and implementing the firm's marketing strategy to support Man's global business across all client channels.
She has over 17 years of experience across sales and marketing roles in asset management. Prior to joining Man Group, Anji spent six years at Wellington Management as Managing Director, Head of EMEA Marketing and Global Fund Marketing.
Previously Anji was Marketing Director at Neuberger Berman. Anji holds a BSc and MA in Anthropology from University College London.
Job Titles:
- Board Director of SEI Master Trust Ltd
- Director, the Institutional Group at SEI Investment ( Europe ) Ltd
Cyprian is responsible for delivering asset allocation advice and implementation to investors across the world.
Cyprian also serves as a Board Director of SEI Master Trust Ltd, in his capacity as a Trustee Director he is responsible for overseeing the retirement assets and savings of workers and has a special interest in encouraging the younger generation to invest for their future.
Cyprian holds a Master of Physics from University of Oxford and MSc in Actuarial Finance from Imperial College London. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at Impax Asset Management
Darren Johnson is Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at Impax Asset Management and sits on the Executive Committee. Darren is also a board member of Impax's management company in Ireland and sits on its UCITS board.
Darren joined Impax in 2007 and during his tenure, he has driven operational transformations, built teams and pioneered the company's transition into cloud services to support rapid growth.
In addition to his Impax responsibilities, Darren sits on the board of a number of charities and organisations, including St Mungo's and the investment advisory board of Comic Relief. Darren is also a prominent advocate of Diversity issues across the financial services, is co-founder of TalkAboutBlack and acts as an ambassador for Investment 20/20, an organisation which provides school leavers and graduates from non-traditional backgrounds with opportunities in asset management.
Job Titles:
- Board Member, Managing Director - Lumyna Investments
As Executive Board Member and Managing Director at Lumyna Investments - Daryl sets the strategic direction of the product range and facilitates the development of new products, to meet the needs of Lumyna's clients.
Daryl also oversees strategic & regulatory change projects for Lumyna, an $18bn boutique asset manager focussed on developing and marketing liquid alternative funds. Not only this, Daryl has worked in financial services for 20 years, designing investment products and innovative solutions for clients. Daryl graduated with a first class in Computer Systems Engineering (MEng) from the University of Warwick.
Job Titles:
- Partner at International Law Firm Latham & Watkins
- Partner at Latham & Watkins
David Ziyambi is a Partner at international law firm Latham & Watkins whose practice focuses on a wide range of finance, including project finance, structured and asset finance, investment-grade, real estate and leveraged finance. David has advised a wide range of clients, including sovereigns and parastatals, export credit agencies, commercial banks and numerous corporates, particularly in the energy sector.
He also advises debt and other investment funds (including mezzanine and other alternative debt structures) focusing on energy and infrastructure, primarily in Africa and other emerging markets.
He is currently an Ambassador for the BigKid Foundation, a youth charity dedicated to helping young people in London fulfil their potential.
He was also named as one of Law360's Rising Stars of 2021 and listed as one of the 30 most Influential black senior executives in the City in finance, law & tech in the 2021 edition of "Power in the City". In 2020, he was included in EMpower's Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executive Role Model list of business leaders who are breaking down barriers at work and working hard to smash the ceiling for ethnic minorities in the UK, Ireland, Europe, and people of color in the United States and Canada. David has also previously been honoured as one of 100 Goldman Sachs Global Leaders worldwide and represented the United Kingdom at the Goldman Sachs Global Leadership Institute in New York City.
He is currently the Chair of the Advisory Board for the University of Cambridge Black Alumni Network and retains his status as a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Society, which holds the patronage of, HRH Charles, Prince of Wales.
Job Titles:
- Founder, Rainchq
- Trustee at the Talawa Theatre
Davinia is the award-winning founder of rainchq - a company she set up to help women take control of their financial futures. She has over 15 years experience across the investment, management and professional services industries, including roles at Fidelity Investments and PwC. Davinia has a First Class Honours degree from Aston University, an Executive MBA from Cass Business School and also holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC).
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder at Redington, Mallowstreet & 10000 Black Interns
- Rose St Louis - Protection Director at Lloyds Banking Group
Dawid started his career as a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, subsequently spending sixteen years as an investment banker. In 2006, he left Merrill Lynch and co-founded Redington, a City firm advising large institutional pension funds and insurance companies.
In 2009, Dawid set up Mallowstreet, which is now the established specialist online community for the UK pensions and savings industry. Most recently he co-founded 10,000 Black Interns, which is placing 10,000 young, talented Black graduates in firms across 24 sectors in the United Kingdom over the next five years.
Job Titles:
- Chartered Clinical Psychologist
Dr Yvette Arthur is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist, currently working in a Psychosis service and privately, within a Children's home. Within these roles, she particularly enjoys sharing a psychological understanding of mental illness within teams and contributing to the journey of recovery for those who are experiencing severe and enduring mental health difficulties. She is passionate about community psychology, mental health amongst people from minority ethnic communities, and highlighting the positive relationship between faith and mental health. She has conducted various pieces of research in the area of faith and mental health, including her doctoral thesis entitled 'Narratives of Christian and Muslim qualified and trainee clinical psychologists working in the NHS'. Her interest in the relationship between faith and mental health continues within her role as a trustee and secretary for the National Spirituality and Mental Health Forum.
Dr Arthur is passionate about sharing skills from psychological theories in a way that is accessible to everyone. She has facilitated various presentations, workshops, and webinars focusing on racial trauma for Black and Asian staff working in the Foreign Office, self-care for medical professionals, mental health awareness in places of worship, and Tree of Life narrative methodology. She is a visiting lecturer at the University of East London and King's College London, focusing on working with religion and spirituality in therapy, and social inequalities in Psychosis presentations
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, the Kairos Experience
Earl Lynch is an inspirational, informative, and passionate speaker, who shares his heart and energy with audiences worldwide. A former professional musician, with a number one hit single, who now runs his own business in learning and development, with over 20 years' experience in field of human resource development.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Head of UK LGPS, Institutional Client Business, Blackrock
Gavin Lewis is Managing Director at BlackRock. He is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of the UK Local Government Pension Scheme segment. Previous to this Gavin held several leadership roles at Vanguard Asset Management including Head of UK Institutional and Wholesale Distribution, Head of UK Retirement and Head of European Consultant Relations. Gavin has also held positions UBS Asset Management and Russell Investments. Gavin hold a BA in History and Politics and from the University of London and holds the CISI Certificate of Investment Management.
Job Titles:
- UK Institutional Sales Team for the SPDR ETF Business
Hannah is part of the UK Institutional Sales Team for the SPDR ETF business. She is responsible for
UK Pension Fund clients, leading business development and strategy for the segment. Hannah is also
Job Titles:
- Chairman and Co - Founder of Black Women
- Principal, Associate General Counsel, Europe, TowerBrook
Jackie is a Principal at TowerBrook Capital Partners, where she is Associate General Counsel, Europe. Prior to joining TowerBrook, Jacqueline was a Senior Associate in the London offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP where she advised European private equity clients. Jackie holds a B.S. from Columbia University, an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management, and a J.D. from the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Financial Adviser and Managing Director at Whitfield Wealth Management, a Partner Practice of St. James 's Place Wealth Management
Jeremy is Financial Adviser and Managing Director at Whitfield Wealth Management, a Partner Practice of St. James's Place Wealth Management.
Job Titles:
- Principal Partner, Belvedere Wealth Management ( BWM )
Belvedere Wealth Management (BWM), part of the Belvedere Group, is a black run and owned international wealth management firm who specialises in advising and managing wealth across multiple continents. Located in London, UK and Windhoek, Namibia, BWM is one of the very few black owned businesses to boast Direct Authorisation with the FCA, allowing us to unashamedly target black investment managers, providers, partners as well as black wealth through professionals, SMEs, and families. Led by Jerran Whyte, Principal Partner, and with over 13 years' worth of experience managing wealth across, UK, US, Europe, Africa, and Asia, BWM markets itself as the premier home of black wealth.
Job Titles:
- Head of Retail Investments, EMEA at Legal & General Investment Management ( LGIM )
- Member of LGIM 's Global Diversity Leadership Council
Justin is the Head of Retail Investments, EMEA at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). He develops and leads LGIM's Retail Investments business working with fund managers, Distribution and Product supporting, improved performance, investment capability, external credibility and asset growth. He is also a fund manager and Head of Retail Multi-Asset Funds, part of a team managing over £60 billion for pension schemes and savers globally. He leads on the management of the award-winning Multi-Index Funds.
Prior to joining LGIM in August 2013, Justin was a fund manager with Aviva Investors' multi-asset team combining both strategic and dynamic asset allocation with manager selection in the construction of multi-asset portfolios. He was lead fund manager on a range of risk-targeting multi-asset funds and co-lead fund manager on a number of unit-linked Life and Pension funds, as well as manager of manager offerings. Justin previously worked as a fund research analyst at Merrill Lynch and an investment consultant for Aon Consulting. Justin is a CFA Charterholder and holds a degree in Economics from the University of Warwick and the Investment Management Certificate.
A member of LGIM's Global Diversity Leadership Council, Justin co-chairs the Legal & General Inclusion Team (LEGIT), which aims to create a culture supporting LGIM through networks and events. Externally, Justin is an adviser to the board of City Hive Ltd, which focuses on driving diversity within asset management. In addition, he sits on the steerco of the industry-wide Diversity Project and is co-founder #TalkAboutBlack, a movement which focuses on creating more senior black corporate leaders. In addition, Justin featured on the 2019, 2020 and 2021 EMpower Senior Executive Leaders List, was a winner of the Invest in Ethnicity Awards Future Leaders Award in 2018, was a finalist in the 2019 Black British Business Awards and in 2020 was awarded the honour of the Freedom of the City of London.
Job Titles:
- Founder and Managing Director, Centre for Synchronous Leadership
Justine is recognised as an authority on leadership, ethics and systemic change, with her thought leadership featured at conferences around the world. She brings to her coaching practice twenty years of experience working with senior executives and has led numerous senior teams and entire divisions through cultural transformation. Additionally, her L&D projects relating to race and ethnicity received awards in 2013, 2014, and 2018.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Vice President at Alliance
Kyle Fraser-Allen is an Assistant Vice President at AllianceBernstein and is part of the European Credit Research Team. He covers Non-Investment Grade and Leveraged Loan Issuers across a range of sectors for investment in Global Credit and Multi-Sector portfolios as well as CLOs.
Before joining AllianceBernstein, Kyle was an analyst at MetLife Investment Management and Wellington Management LLP and begun his career at SEI Investments.
Kyle holds a Masters in Global Finance and Banking from King's College London.
Job Titles:
- Member of Man Group 's Diversity
- Senior Manager Financial Crime Compliance - Man Group
Marina joined Man Group in 2017, she is the Head of Client Due Diligence within Man Group's Global Financial Crime Compliance team managing regulatory changes and protecting the firm from Financial Crime risk.
Marina is a committee member of Man Group's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) steering committee, and a founding member of the firm's Black employees network, BEAM. In these roles, Marina works closely with senior leaders from across the business to set and implement the firm's DE&I strategy. She contributes her passion to the broader asset management industry, through her contribution as a Diversity Project ambassador and #talkaboutblack committee member.
Prior to Man Group, Marina worked at JP Morgan for 8 years in Private Equity and Real Estate Accounting.
In 2020, Marina featured on EMpower's 100 Ethnic Minority Future Leaders, and was awarded Unsung Hero at the Women in Investments Awards.
Job Titles:
- Co - Head of the Thinking Ahead Institute
- Co - Head of the Thinking Ahead Institute, Willis Towers Watson
- Fellow of the Institute
Marisa is co-head of the Thinking Ahead Institute, a global not-for-profit investment research network focussed on mobilising capital for a sustainable future. The Institute's membership includes more than 40 of the world's largest asset owners and asset managers with combined responsibility for over USD$12 trillion. Marisa spends much of her time working on sustainability; value creation; culture and leadership; and diversity, inclusion & identity. Prior to joining the Institute, Marisa was a Senior Investment Consultant in Willis Towers Watson's investment advisory business.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Founder and Global Managing Partner, Barrington Hibbert Associates
- National Representative for the Government
Hibbert's career spans two decades and four continents (Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa).
Michael is the founder and global managing partner for executive search and advisory firm Barrington Hibbert Associates Financial Services Practice. With a global track record in primary and secondary banking appointments covering both the buy and sell sides, he has advised multiple FTSE 100 firms over the
years. Michael also leads the firm's diversity and inclusion practice. Michael began his career at Morgan Stanley in New York, before moving back to the UK five years later to begin a career in the
executive search industry. He still maintains a strong US presence and splits his time between BHA's London and New York offices.
Along with his executive search expertise, Michael is passionate about social mobility. He is a founder of the Barrington Hibbert Associates Scholarship awarded annually to assist outstanding 18-21-year-olds and is a mentor for the Amos Bursary which assists academically gifted young Black British men. His passion for social mobility stems from his own experiences. Michael studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Binghamton University where he was offered a full scholarship. He was however, also forced to turn down a place at Yale University as he did not have the financial means that the University asked for. As a result of this, he is determined to support younger generations to ensure that talent and potential are not side-lined due to social and financial situations.
Michael is a national representative for the Government backed REACH programme. Selected as one of 20 from an initial 200 applicants, Michael acts as a role model for the initiative aimed at raising the aspirations and achievements of young black men. He is also a co-Founder of #10,000blackinterns, an initiative to
Job Titles:
- Partner, Prudential Financial Planning Ltd
Nathan joined Prudential Financial Planning Ltd. in 2016 as a Partner responsible for ensuring financial needs for clients are discovered, understood and become achievable. Covering all areas of financial planning from pensions to insurances. Prior to joining Prudential, Nathan worked at Barclays for 5 years in various senior roles as a Personal Banker, Premier Relationship Manager and Strategic Transformation Leader.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Vice President at Morgan Stanley and the EMEA Risk and Control Lead for Investment Management Operations
Ngozi Fasan is a Vice President at Morgan Stanley and the EMEA Risk and Control Lead for
Investment Management Operations. In her role she is responsible for executing the IM Operations risk and regulatory governance agenda and her role covers a broad range of Operational Risk related programs and activities including support of the Global Operations Risk Management framework.
Ngozi joined Morgan Stanley in January 2018 from the Royal Bank of Scotland. Prior to that she worked at Barclays and Deutsche Bank in operational risk management roles. Ngozi initially trained and practised as an Auditor for over 5 years at Ernst & Young and KPMG and has over 16 years experience in the financial services industry.
Ngozi has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Greenwich in Accounting and Finance and is also a certified Risk Manager and Project Manager.
A champion of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and is an active member of the Diversity Focus Committee, as well as the Morgan Stanley EMEA Firm wide Race to Action Group. Ngozi is also the representative for Morgan Stanley on the Diversity Project Steering committee, which is focused on industry wide best practices within investment management.
Job Titles:
- Head the U.S. Equities - EMEA, Columbia Threadneedle
- Trustee - Director of the Columbia Threadneedle Foundation
Nicolas leads a team of 6 professionals managing $12 billion dollars of client assets across 6 strategies. Nicolas is the lead manager of the Threadneedle American Strategy, the ESG portfolios, as well as a Small-Mid cap strategy. Nicolas is the co-portfolio manager for Columbia Large Cap Growth Opportunity Fund (40 Act Fund). Finally, as head of the desk, he is the regulatory face of the U.S. Equities franchise in EMEA.
Nicolas joined the company in 2006, spending eight years in the New York office of Columbia Management, where he worked as a portfolio manager in the Value Strategies team focusing on US mid and small cap companies. He relocated to London in 2014.
In addition to his Portfolio responsibilities, Nicolas has served as a Trustee-Director of the Columbia Threadneedle Foundation since 2015.
Job Titles:
- Senior Content and Communications Professional
Nneka has over a decades worth of experience across journalism, communications, social media and content creation. She has also worked across a range of sectors including financial services, tech and the creative sector.
Over the years she has led several award-winning, high-profile campaigns - working across public, private and third sector clients. She has provided strategic communications, content advice and support for clients from start-ups to several listed companies.
Nneka has experience of creating engaging content for social, digital and non-traditional platforms, and has been responsible for bringing forward several successful social and multimedia campaigns.
Job Titles:
- Fund Manager
- Ejikeme - Fund Manager Within the Cross Asset Team at Carmignac
Obe Ejikeme is a Fund Manager within the Cross Asset team. Obe joined Carmignac in 2014 as Quantitative Equity Analyst. He started his career in 2003 at FactSet Research Systems as a Senior Consultant.
Then, he worked for seven years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he was Head of European Equity and Quantitative Strategy.
Obe holds a Bachelor in Computer Science from the University of Hull.
Job Titles:
- Director, Client Partner Group - KKR
Odumade Odutola joined KKR in 2022 and is a Director in the Client and Partner Group, where he is a member of the European Private Wealth Team. Prior to joining KKR, Mr Odutola was a senior vice president at PIMCO, where he was responsible for the growth of PIMCO's business in London - focusing on wealth managers, multi-managers, and financial advisers.
Previously he worked for BlackRock within the strategic partnership and DC Investment Sales Team. He holds an MBA from The Imperial College and an undergraduate degree from Bristol Business School.
Job Titles:
- Head of Emerging Markets Corporate Debt Group, Barings
Omotunde Lawal is the Head of Emerging Markets Corporate Debt Group and the lead portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Corporate Debt strategy, as well as a member of the Barings EM Investment Committee. Prior to her current role, Tunde was the Head of Barings EM Corporate Credit Research, with research coverage responsibilities for various sectors such as Real Estate, LATAM Energy, and LATAM Infrastructure. Tunde has worked in the industry since 2000.
Job Titles:
- Director, Institutional Sales, Nuveen
Rachel is responsible for developing relationships with UK institutional investors across pension funds, insurance firms and charities as well as investment consultants and other advisors. She will play a key role in continuing to grow our investment and distribution capabilities in the U.K. to meet the increased interest from U.K. and European investors. She has more than a decade of experience within institutional sales, working with asset owners and stakeholders on both the liability and asset sides. In addition to her most recent role as Associate Director of Institutional Sales at Aviva Investors, she has held positions at reinsurer Munich Re and Russell Investments.
Whilst at Aviva Investors, Rachel sat on the Aviva Group Board Evolution Council as one of twelve future leaders responsible for advising the Aviva Group Board on strategic issues. Rachel is a co-founder of #talkaboutblack, the ethnicity workstream of the Diversity Project and a Diversity Project Ambassador. She is the founder of The Skills Workshop, a social initiative to build awareness of the asset management industry, increase financial literacy, and increase social capital amongst university aged students across the UK. In June 2020, she was awarded the Freedom of the City of London for her work in campaigning for greater ethnic diversity in the asset management industry.
Job Titles:
- Head of Multi - Asset Income & Growth
- Head of Multi - Asset Income and Growth, Schroders
Remi is the Head of Multi-Asset Income & Growth. Since joining Schroders in 2006, Remi has been managing Multi-Asset Income and Diversified Growth mandates. She is the lead fund manager of the Schroder ISF Global Multi-Asset Income fund and of the Schroder Diversified Growth funds. Remi is a member of the Equity risk premium team of the Strategic Investment Group Multi-Asset (SIGMA) and a member of the Global Asset Allocation Committee.
Job Titles:
- Rose St Louis - Protection Director at Lloyds Banking Group
Rose joined Lloyds Banking Group in March 2021 as a Protection Director. She is responsible for leading LBGs protection business across the intermediary, retail & digital channels.
Rose has over 20 years experience in the financial services industry in a diverse range of roles. Rose's background as a financial advisor for 10 years has given her real customer insight, and by working with Asset Managers, Intermediaries, Brokers and Insurers. She has great knowledge of the insurance value chain.
Rose is a leading figure in the UK protection market and is recognised for her inclusive approach to customer delivery - winning several industry awards and being instrumental in setting up and launching, Women in Protection Network.
Job Titles:
- Founder MindsetShift
- Founder of MindsetShift a Company
Sope is the founder of MindsetShift a company that specialises in two pillars: leadership development - coaching and building emotionally intelligent and strategic leaders and culture change - focused on working with organisation, startup and local government to develop people-centred cultures that are truly inclusive and psychologically safe as well as running facilitation sessions.
Job Titles:
- Senior HR Business Partner at Harry 's International
Tainia is Senior HR Business Partner at Harry's International, where she is responsible for partnering with the senior leadership team and line managers to develop the HR Strategy and people plans to support the business goals and growth strategy and to build the capability and culture for the future. Before joining Harry's she spent 9 years in financial services working for the Global AXA Group which includes Architas Investment Management.
Job Titles:
- Director and Deputy Head of Corporate Finance in the Investment Trust Team at Cenkos Securities
Tunga is a Director and deputy Head of Corporate Finance in the Investment Trust team at Cenkos Securities. An experienced corporate financier/broker with over 15 years of experience. Tunga has led and advised on numerous equity capital markets transactions which have raised in excess of £8 billion across the Investment Trust and Real estate sectors.
Tunga qualified as a chartered accountant at PwC in the banking and capital markets division where his clients included Goldman Sachs, Barclays and ICAP.
Tunga holds an Bsc(Hons) in Economics from the University of Warwick and an Msc in Management Science and Operational Research from Warwick Business School.
Job Titles:
- Specialist Compliance ( Vice President ), Northern Trust Asset Management
Vannessa Whitehead joined Northern Trust Asset Management in August 2021 in the role of Specialist, Compliance (Vice President) where she is responsible for providing advice and guidance across a range EMEA related compliance topics.
Prior to this, Vannessa spent almost a decade at abrdn across a number of roles including Global Head of Compliance Monitoring, Senior Compliance Manager and most latterly, as a Technical Manager covering Investments.
Outside of compliance, Vannessa is a passionate inclusion advocate, having co-chaired an employee network focussed on race and ethnicity. Vannessa is also a member of the Organisational Development Committee for ‘The Children's Society', where she hopes to contribute towards improved outcomes for children and young people.
Vannessa Whitehead joined Northern Trust Asset Management in August 2021 in the role of Specialist, Compliance (Vice President) where she is responsible for providing advice and guidance across a range EMEA related compliance topics.
Prior to this, Vannessa spent almost a decade at abrdn across a number of roles including Global Head of Compliance Monitoring, Senior Compliance Manager and most latterly, as a Technical Manager covering Investments.
Outside of compliance, Vannessa is a passionate inclusion advocate, having co-chaired an employee network focussed on race and ethnicity. Vannessa is also a member of the Organisational Development Committee for ‘The Children's Society', where she hopes to contribute towards improved outcomes for children and young people.
Job Titles:
- Portfolio Manager
- Portfolio Manager, Kempen Capital Management
Yvonne is Portfolio Manager to institutional investors with a focus on building multi-asset solutions.
Yvonne is a passionate advocate of socio-economic mobility and works with young people to help them overcome various barriers of entry into their preferred educations / professions. She is the Co-Chair of the EnCircle mentoring circles in partnership with #TalkAboutBlack and the Diversity Project. She is also an active volunteer at her church, contributing to the social media team and the careers' ministry, specialising in mentoring young people from areas outside of London.
Yvonne graduated from Heriot Watt University with an honours degree in Accountancy and Finance. She is a level III candidate for the CFA program and holds the Investment Management Certificate.