Speakers
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Chris Hitchen Board Member, Scott Trust & Nuclear Liabilities Fund
Chris is Chair of the Nuclear Liabilities Fund, tasked with a hundred-year mission to fund the decommissioning of the UK’s active fleet of nuclear power stations, and sits on the board of the Scott Trust Endowment, which backs the Guardian newspaper. Chris was previously Chair of Border to Coast, the LGPS pool company, Chair of the Investment Committee at Nest, the pension fund with 13 million members, and CEO at Railpen. Chris has over 30 years’ experience in investment and pensions and chaired Pensions UK, as well as being the inaugural Chair of the Pensions Quality Mark. Chris has also been a Board member for the Toronto-based International Centre for Pensions Management (ICPM), and for the UK’s Investor Forum, which promotes strategic dialogue between companies and investors. Chris is an Actuary and an Honorary Fellow of the CFA Society of the UK.
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Lucie Majstrova Investment Specialist - Baillie Gifford
Lucie is in investment specialist in the Clients Department and is a member of the Private Companies Team. She joined Baillie Gifford in 2021. Prior to joining the firm, she spent nine years at HSBC Private Banking where she focused on investment advice for private clients. Lucie has an MA in International Economics from IHEID in Geneva.
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Clare Erskine-Murray Client Relationship Director - Baillie Gifford
Clare is a client relationship director with responsibility for a number of UK-based clients, including many charities, foundations and endowments, investing in a range of strategies. Prior to joining Baillie Gifford in 2012, she worked as a European Equity broker at Credit Agricole Cheuvreux and at Cazenove & Co, both in London and New York. Clare graduated BA (Hons) in French from the University of Durham in 1992 and holds a postgraduate diploma from the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.
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Alison El-Araby Investment Manager, Pictet Asset Management
Alison El-Araby joined Pictet Asset Management in 2024 as an Investment Manager in the London Multi Asset Team.
Prior to joining Pictet, Alison worked for Newton Investment Management where she managed multi-asset and equity portfolios for Charity clients. Previously, Alison spent 9 years at Barings Asset Management, managing funds for Charity and Institutional clients, with a focus on dynamic asset allocation strategies. Alison holds an MSci in Physics from the University of Bristol and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.
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Kate Rickards Head of UK Institutional, Pictet Asset Management
Kate joined Pictet Asset Management in 2019 with a focus on the UK institutional market covering consultant relations, pension funds and charities and endowments. Kate has been in the industry since 1998 and has held similar roles at Epoch Investment Partners, SKAGEN and Schroders.
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Brad Ross-Williams Investment Director, Securitized Product & Asset-based Finance, Schroders Capital
Bradley Ross-Williams serves as an Investment Director on Schroders Capital's Private Debt & Credit Alternatives product strategist team, bringing more than 22 years of experience in financial services.
After graduating from the University of St. Andrews with and MA (Hons) in Modern Languages, he began his career at Morgan Stanley. He later spent time as a Portfolio Manager at HSBC Alternative Investments and a Senior Alternatives Product Specialist at Natixis Global Asset Management. He then spent several years as a relationship manager in private equity before moving to Haitong Investment Bank where he was responsible for Fund Advisory with a focus on Chinese asset managers.
Brad was a Partner, Head of Investor Relations at the ABS hedge fund East Lodge Capital before most recently joining CQS ABS/ABF team as Senior Investment Specialist.
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Sophie Florentin-Siu UK Business Development Director, Schroders CapitalSophie is a UK Client Director with extensive experience partnering with charities, endowments and foundations, as well as pension funds and family offices. She has spent over 15 years working closely with UK institutional investors, helping them access and implement credit and private debt solutions aligned with their long-term objectives.
Before joining Schroders Capital in 2025, Sophie worked at PIMCO covering UK and European clients, and spent a year in Hong Kong supporting institutional investors across Asia. She holds a BA (Hons) in Business & Asian Studies from the University of Nottingham and is a CFA charterholder.
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Michael Kinsella Investment Specialist, Troy Asset Management
Michael is an investment specialist on the Multi-Asset Strategy. Michael joined the Business Development Team at Troy in May 2016 from Veritas Investment Management where he worked as an Assistant Portfolio Manager.
Michael graduated from Dublin Business School with a BA (Hons) in Business Studies in 2005. He holds a Master’s in Wealth Management from the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, the Investment Management Certificate (IMC), and the Certificate in ESG Investing.
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Stephanie Slade Institutional Business Development, Troy Asset Management
Stephanie joined Troy Asset Management in August 2025 and is responsible for developing business with institutional clients and consultants.
Prior to joining Troy, Stephanie spent 20 years at J O Hambro Capital Management, most recently as Head of Consultant Relations, having held a number of senior positions within the distribution team. Before this, she worked at Gartmore, Lombard Odier, and British Airways Investment Management. Stephanie holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and the CFA Sustainable Investing Certificate.
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Andrew Gnaneswaran CIO, Vivensa Foundation
As Chief Investment Officer, Andy oversees a £180M multi-asset investment portfolio, supporting the Vivensa Foundation in designing and implementing its ‘impact conscious’ investment strategy, across public and private markets, alongside overseeing a £5M social investment portfolio.
Prior to joining Vivensa, Andy worked at several foundations developing blended-finance funds and supporting the roll-out of impact investing strategies. Andy started off his career working at Goldman Sachs in London, before doing a range of international roles including supporting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Uganda. He holds the ACA qualifications and is passionate about supporting asset owners from the foundation sector and beyond, to consider the impact across every investment, alongside financial risk and return factors.
