Focus on Skills

Paul Chahine has been the Sustainability Research Manager at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) since November 2019. In addition to contributing to the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX) projects, Paul is responsible for the daily management of the LGX Academy, where he serves as the lead lecturer. He also represents LuxSE in several working groups, including those formed by ICMA, WFE and ABBL.

Following successful roles in consultancy for development projects in Damascus, Syria and Luxembourg, Paul refined his specialisation in climate finance at the European Investment Bank as a member of its climate finance team, where he played a pivotal role in the bank’s climate finance tracking and the development of MDBs Climate Finance methodologies.

Paul has a Master’s degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Bordeaux, and a Master’s degree in Higher European Studies from the European College of Parma Foundation.

Sinor Chhor was appointed Managing Director of Nordea Investment Funds S.A. (‘NIFSA’) in 2021.

She is a Member of the Management Committee since 2017. She has spent her entire professional career in the financial services and asset management industry in various governance related functions. In her role, she has led many regulatory implementation projects with a focus on the development of Pan-European investment solution.

NIFSA is part of the asset management arm of the Nordea Group. Nordea Asset Management has around 8500 employees and manages more than EUR 280 billion of assets for institutional, wholesale and retail clients across the Nordic region and the globe. The company manages a wide range of investment strategies including private equity funds, fund of funds, loans and private credit funds.

Pascal Denis is the Leader of our Investment Management Advisory practice. He is also serving as the Chief Strategy Officer for the Firm in Luxembourg and for the Continental Europe region.

Pascal is a seasoned and versatile consultant who has been helping local and international clients in Financial Services for about 30 years. He has developed over the years a special focus on supporting the transformation of clients in Wealth & Asset Management across strategy, operations and technology.

His areas of expertise include the definition and execution of complex transformation programs from strategy to implementation, the definition of Target Operating Model and related organizational changes, the execution of post-merger integrations, the implementation of core banking systems or the delivery of efficiency programs.

He has worked for many international clients in Wealth & Asset Management across Europe and Asia advising primarily CEOs, COOs and CIOs.

In his role as Chief Strategy Officer in Luxembourg and for the Continental Europe region, he is looking at growth & strategy matters for the Firm.

Michael Fox is Managing Director for J.P. Morgan Bank S.E., Luxembourg Branch as well as leadings its Securities Services business, including all aspects of strategy, client service, product delivery and operations.

He joined J.P. Morgan in 1993 and has held a number of senior roles within Asset Management, Prime Brokerage and Securities Services. Michael is a keen supporter of J.P. Morgan’s philanthropic and diversity causes, sponsoring D&I initiatives, professional networking groups and it’s Luxembourg Apprenticeship program while representing J.P. Morgan in its efforts to support the wider community.

Steve Jacoby is the Regional Managing Partner for Continental Europe of the Luxembourg office of Clifford Chance and co-heads the Luxembourg Banking, Finance and Capital Markets practice, handling lending, securitisation, capital markets, regulatory, derivatives, general banking law (including litigation), corporate law and insolvency matters.

His practice focuses in particular on financial regulatory matters as well as on Fintech and innovation. Steve is also an associate lecturer (Chargé de Cours Associé) at the University of Luxembourg in Banking, Finance and Capital Markets law.

Vanessa Muller is the EY Luxembourg ESG Lead, with extensive experience in this field. She is also responsible for our Banking and Capital Markets Consulting clients.

She has more than 19 years of experience in the Financial Services industry, focusing on major transformation projects from a business and technology perspective (ESG transformation from strategy to operationalisation, core banking system implementation, post-merger integration, business and IT strategy and implementation, business and operating model definition, new products and services definition, digital transformation).

She is a member of the ABBL Sustainability Committee and contributes to other associations’ working groups on Sustainability where she is co-chair, like ALFI and LuxCMA.

Prof. Dr. Stéphane Pallage is the rector of  the University of Luxembourg and full professor in Economics.

He heads the rectorate and is responsible for developing the overall University strategy and institutional policies.  His responsibilities also include fundraising, international relations, statistics and communications.

Prior to joining the University of Luxembourg, he was professor in economics at the University of Quebec in Montréal (UQAM), where he worked extensively on applied macroeconomics, dynamic general equilibrium models, international aid, and the fight against child labour. From 2013 to 2017, he was the Dean of the School of Management at UQAM.

Stéphane Pallage holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Administration (Finance) and a Ph.D. in economics from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA.

Alex Panican is a serial entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience in Business Strategy, Digital Transformation and Innovation. He’s the Deputy CEO of the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (The LHoFT), where he’s supporting the innovation partnerships between the fintechs and the financial actors.

Alex is also a professor in Business Strategy and Digital Marketing. He holds an MBA in Strategy from the University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada. The LHoFT aims to drive digitalisation and innovation in the Luxembourg financial industry and build a collaborative ecosystem of innovators across all sectors of the domestic and international community, including fintech, traditional financial services firms, government, regulators, universities, and investors.

Ala Presenti is the Co-Founder of Investre, an ESG-focused fintech start-up. Investre is building an on-chain marketplace, Moniflo, that is the only DIY platform for valued-based investors.

Before starting the entrepreneurial adventure in 2020, Ala Presenti followed a career in Finance. Her career started 10 years ago as a junior accountant, 3 years after she switched to KPMG Luxembourg as an Auditor having roles from junior to manager focusing on various business areas such as real estate, alternative investments funds, private equity and assurance services.

Now, for almost 2 years, she has been the Head of Finance and Administration at Investre. During this time, one of the biggest challenges was building a team of 14 employees.

Ala Presenti is a member of the ALFI Responsible Investing Committee, Disclosures, and ESG Reporting Working Groups.

She is also a Certified AML specialist, Certified Fraud Examiner and recently became a Certified ESG Analyst. Integrity and care are at the core of her values, in all aspects of her personal and professional life.

Ala strongly believes that the key to the success of any business is having the right people around. Her biggest challenge is to create an environment where people want to bring the best of themselves.

Lynn Robbroeckx is Secretary General at Luxembourg for Finance (LFF), the agency for the development of the financial centre.

Prior to joining LFF, Lynn served as Head of Communication at the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) and SpaceResources.lu initiative.

She holds a Master Degree in Sinology from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and studied Chinese at Chengkung University in Taiwan. She began her career at the Luxembourg Embassy in Beijing and later on worked for the world’s leading steel and mining company, ArcelorMittal, in China and London.

She currently also serves as Secretary General of PROFIL, the Luxembourg Financial Industry Federation.