Sustainable Finance Forum 2021

Following the legislative elections of 14 October 2018, Pierre Gramegna was re-appointed Minister of Finance in the coalition government formed by the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) and the Green Party (déi gréng). Pierre Gramegna first joined the government as Minister of Finance in 2013.

As Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna has initiated major reforms to balance the budget and to align Luxembourg’s tax rules with international transparency standards. Thanks to these efforts, Luxembourg’s AAA rating has been consistently confirmed by all major rating agencies and, in 2015, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes upgraded Luxembourg to “largely compliant”. Pierre Gramegna is also a promoter of the diversification of Luxembourg’s financial centre, in particular with regard to FinTech and sustainable finance. He is the initiator and president of the LHoFT Foundation, which runs the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology. He has also further developed bilateral relations with China in the financial sector.

Pierre Gramegna puts particular emphasis on Luxembourg’s role in multilateral development banks. In 2014, Luxembourg became a member of the African Development Bank and, in 2015, Luxembourg was the first non-Asian country to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Currently, he is the chairman of the board of Governors of the AIIB. In May 2016, Pierre Gramegna was elected chair of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a one-year mandate. He currently serves on the Board of Governors of the European Investment Bank and on that of the European Stability Mechanism. He is also Luxembourg’s governor to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Pierre Gramegna studied law and economics at the Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II), where he was awarded a master’s degree in civil law in 1981 and a degree in economic sciences in 1982. He completed his post-university education with a DEA (postgraduate diploma of advanced studies) in European Union law.

As a career diplomat, Pierre Gramegna joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983. From 1996 to 2002, Pierre Gramegna was Luxembourg’s ambassador to Japan and South Korea. From 2003 to 2013, Pierre Gramegna held the position of Director General of the Chamber of Commerce.

Nicolas Mackel is CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, the Agency for the Development of the Financial Centre, since July 2013.

Nicolas is a career diplomat. He has graduated with a law degree from the University of Aix-en-Provence, and holds two post-graduate diplomas in European law from the Sorbonne University, respectively the College of Europe in Bruges where he then also served as a teaching assistant in the Law Department. He worked as a legal clerk at the European Court of Justice before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1999. His assignments focused on the successive EU Treaty negotiations (Amsterdam, Nice, Constitution, Lisbon).

Nicolas was consecutively posted at Luxembourg’s Permanent Representation to the EU (2002-07), as Deputy Chief of Mission at Luxembourg’s Embassy in Washington DC (2007-11) and as Consul General in Shanghai (2011-13) where he was in charge of promoting Luxembourg’s economic interests throughout China as the Executive Director of the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office.

Judith Bogner is a television presenter, event facilitator and commentator for international finance, business and geopolitics based between the UK and Germany. For more than ten years she was one of the main European anchors of the financial news channel Bloomberg Global Television in London. Since 2012 Judith runs her own business, offering event and business facilitation, client advisory boards and strategic consulting. She is also a UK accredited mediator.

Judith regularly leads public and private events for corporate and institutional clients in the financial sector and beyond. Her list of clients include the Federation of German Industries, the Euro Finance Week (Frankfurt), Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of New York Mellon, The Brewers of Europe, Luxembourg for Finance, the Dutch Development Bank FMO, Ergo Insurance, State Street, Scope Ratings, the Institute of Culinary Art, Allianz Global Assistance, Wacom and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Born in Germany, Judith has lived in Switzerland, China, Ukraine, France and Italy. She is bilingual in English-German and also speaks Italian, French and Mandarin Chinese. Judith holds a degree in International Business Management and Chinese from the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen.

Mairead McGuinness is the European Commissioner for financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union.

The Commissioner’s vision for the portfolio is focused on ensuring the financial sector’s strength and stability, so that it can deliver for people, society and the environment.

Before joining the Commission in October 2020, Ms McGuinness was First Vice-President of the European Parliament from 2017. She served as an MEP from Ireland for 16 years, and was a VicePresident of the Parliament since 2014.

As Vice-President, she oversaw relations with national Parliaments, led the Parliament’s dialogue with religious and philosophical organisations, and had responsibility for the Parliament’s communication policy.

During her time in the Parliament, Ms McGuinness sat on a range of committees, covering agriculture, environment, public health, budgets, petitions and constitutional affairs. Her legislative work included leading for the EPP Group on the European Climate Law, the revision of medical devices legislation, and CAP reform post-2013. As an Irish MEP representing the border region, she was outspoken on Brexit and the consequences for the EU and Ireland.

In 2006-2007, Ms McGuinness chaired the Parliament’s investigation into the collapse of the Equitable Life assurance company which identified issues around weak financial regulation.

Prior to becoming an MEP, she was an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and commentator.

Niklas Adalberth co-founded Klarna in 2005.

Ten years later, he left to found Norrsken, a non-profit Foundation which supports entrepreneurs and startups that are solving some of the greatest challenges of our time such as poverty, mental illness, food waste and climate.

Norrsken was founded in Stockholm, but began its global expansion in 2019. In Kigali, Rwanda, Norrsken is creating the biggest hub for entrepreneurship in East Africa.

Kalin Anev Janse is the Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Management Board of the ESM and EFSF. He is in charge of the Funding and Investor Relations division responsible for €300 billion of outstanding debt and the Investment and Treasury division investing the €80 billion ESM capital. Additionally, he is in charge of ALM & Financial Structuring overseeing the ESM and EFSF balance sheet.

Before taking on the CFO position, he was the Secretary General responsible for amongst others Corporate Governance, Shareholder relations, HR and Finance & Control, and IT & Operations running technology and facilities of the institution. He previously worked in strategy at the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg, corporate finance advisory at McKinsey & Company in the Netherlands and investment banking at JPMorgan in London. He held several political positions in the Netherlands.

Kalin Anev Janse studied MSc. Business Administration at the Rotterdam School of Management and Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania. For his undergraduate degree, he studied Business Administration in Finance, Banking and Insurance at the Vrije University Amsterdam. He is a young global leader of the World Economic Forum.

Julie Becker has been at the helm of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) since April 2021. She joined LuxSE in 2013 and was appointed to its Executive Committee in 2015, before being named Deputy CEO in 2019, and CEO two years later.

Her career in the financial sector in Luxembourg spans over two decades and includes positions at the Central Bank of Luxembourg and Dexia. In 2016, Julie Becker founded the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX), the world’s leading platform for sustainable securities. A recognised expert in the field of sustainable finance, Julie Becker has represented LuxSE and LGX at numerous, international expert forums and conferences over the past years, including the EU High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance from 2017 to 2019 and the United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development in 2023.

Julie Becker is a member of the board of directors of several Luxembourg-based financial industry associations and the Chairwoman of LuxCMA, a capital markets industry association established in 2019. She was awarded The inventor” by Global Landscape as part of their campaign “16 Women Restoring the Earth” in 2019 and was named the “Most Influential Economic Decision Maker in Luxembourg” in the 2022 edition of the Paperjam Top 100.

Julie Becker played a crucial role in the founding of the Luxembourg Women in Finance Charter. She is a member of the Luxembourg Gender Finance Task Force, launched in 2023, and the EIB’s Women Climate Leaders Network, launched in 2024. She was appointed as a member of the University of Luxembourg’s Board of Governors in 2023.

Julie Becker specialises in regulatory and legal matters linked to capital markets. She holds a Master’s Degree in European & Comparative Law and a Master’s Degree (DEA) in Private Law from the University of Nancy II, France. She is also an alumna of the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Elizabeth Gillam is Head of EU Government Relations and Public Policy at Invesco where she advises the business and clients on public policy and political developments in Europe. As part of her role, Elizabeth focuses on sustainability and climate finance issues, working alongside Invesco’s ESG and investment teams. She joined Invesco in October 2018.

Based in Brussels since 2011, Elizabeth joined Invesco from Allianz Global Investors, where she spent nearly 4 years as Senior Policy and Regulatory Liaison. Between 2011-2015, Elizabeth was Deputy Head of the City of London’s European Affairs team. Elizabeth began her career as a Policy Advisor at HM Treasury working on European and international tax policy.

Elizabeth is a member of the Green Technical Advisory Group which advises the UK government on the development of a green Taxonomy in the UK. Elizabeth is the chair of the International Regulatory Strategy Group’s Taxonomy working group and also a member of the IIGCC’s Policy Steering Committee.

Elizabeth holds a Master of Modern Languages from the University of Manchester.

The Sustainable Investing team is focused on identifying drivers of long-term return associated with environmental, social and governance issues, integrating them throughout that investment processes, and creating solutions for a client to achieve sustainable investment return. Ewa Jackson is a frequent speaker and participant on panels and a member of a number of industry committees.

Ms Jackson previously held a number of senior roles in M&A and Strategy at Deutsche Bank, supporting the development and implementation of organic and inorganic strategic initiatives, such as the bank’s execution of acquisitions, investments and divestitures and business and portfolio analysis. She began her career at RBS where she worked in Leveraged finance supporting clients across Europe.

Ms Jackson is an active advocate of diversity and inclusion, co-leading the External Networks pillar within BlackRocks Women’s Initiative Network in EMEA. She is also the vice-chair of BlackRock’s 100 Women in Finance committee and a member of Pilotlight, coaching and mentoring charity leaders and their boards to become more efficient, effective and sustainable. She is a member of various mentoring programs.

Ms Jackson earned a Master of Laws, with honours, at the University of Aix-Marseille III.

Eila Kreivi is Director and Chief Sustainable Finance Advisor at the European Investment Bank since February 2022.

From April 2011 until end of January 2022, she headed the Capital Markets Department of the EIB, as its Director. Before that, she was the Head of Funding for the Americas, Asia & Pacific.
Between March 2018 and January 2022, she was an alternate member of the Board of Directors of the European Investment Fund (EIF).

Prior to joining the financing arm of the European Union in 1995, Eila Kreivi worked at the Union Bank of Finland and Société Générale, in Helsinki and in Paris.

She holds a Master of Science degree in Economics from the University of Abo Akademi in Finland. In addition to her native language of Finnish, she is fluent in English, French and Swedish.

Eila Kreivi chaired the Executive Committee of the Green Bond Principles in 2015-2018. She has represented the EIB at the EU High-level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance in 2017‑2018, established by the European Commission. Between 2018 and September 2020, she also represented the EIB at the European Commission’s Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance created in 2018. Since October 2020, she is a member of the Platform on Sustainable Finance, an advisory body created by the European Commission.

In July 2020, she was elected as member of the Board of Directors of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA).

Richard F. Lacaille is executive vice president and senior investment advisor.  He also leads and coordinates the environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives at State Street.  In his current role, he provides enterprise leadership for our ESG program to ensure a well-coordinated and optimised approach to our ESG policies, products, initiatives and thought leadership.

Prior to his current role, Rick was the global chief investment officer (CIO) at State Street Global Advisors from 2008 to April, 2021.  He was also the global head of Quantitative Active Equities and European CIO.  Before joining State Street Global Advisors in 2000, he held various roles in Quantitative Fund Management and Research at Gartmore Investment Management, including the head of Quantitative Research and Structured Equities.

Rick has a Bachelor of Science (Honors) degree in operational research from Lancaster University and Master of Science degree in econometrics from London Guildhall University.

Rick is a member of the MSCI Advisory Council, the FTSE Russell ESG Advisory and Sustainable Investment Committee and is Chair of the Asset Management Committee of the Investment Association.  He is a writer and broadcaster on investment issues and speaks frequently at industry conferences.

As Global Head of Research for MSCI’s ESG Research group, Linda-Eling Lee oversees all ESG- and Climate-related content and methodology. MSCI ESG Research is the largest provider of ESG Rating and analytics to global institutional investors. Linda leads one of the largest teams of research analysts in the world who are dedicated to identifying risks and opportunities arising from material ESG issues. She and her team have been widely recognized as the best SRI/ESG researchers by market surveys and awards.

Linda joined MSCI in 2010 following the acquisition of RiskMetrics, where she led ESG ratings research and was head of consumer sector analysis. Linda joined RiskMetrics Group in 2009 through the acquisition of Innovest. Prior to joining Innovest, Linda was the Research Director at the Center for Research on Corporate Performance, developing academic research at Harvard Business School into management tools to drive long-term corporate performance. Previously, she was a strategy consultant with Monitor Group in Europe and in Asia, where she worked with Fortune 500 clients in industries ranging from beverages to telecommunications.

Linda received her AB from Harvard, MSt from Oxford, and PhD in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University.

Linda has published research in both management and investment practitioner journals as well as in top academic peer-reviewed journals. Linda was named a Top 100 Women in Finance by Barron’s in 2019 and 2021, and voted #1 for an Individual Making the Most Positive Overall Contribution to Sustainable Investment / Corporate Governance in 2018 and 2019 by Extel/IRRI. She is a frequent media commentator on ESG topics and sustainable investing in outlets including the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the New York Times.

Stephen Nolan is the Managing Director of the UN Environment convened Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) global network. With a membership base covering Europe, the Gulf, Africa, Asia and North America, the objective of the network is to exchange experience and take common action on shared priorities to accelerate the rapid global growth of green and sustainable finance across the world’s financial centres, supported by strengthened international connectivity, and a framework for common approaches.

A senior business professional who has led and delivered initiatives from start-up to scale across both public and private spheres internationally, Stephen is also a member of the international Advisory Panel member of the Climate Bonds Initiative and the Advisory Board of the International Energy Research Centre.

Stephen is a co-founder of Sustainable Nation Ireland, a non-governmental body working together with Ireland’s public and private sectors to advance the sustainable finance agenda within Ireland. Stephen currently sits on the boards of Haven, an Irish based charity focused on Haiti and the Children’s Cancer Fund. He is a former Irish Government ICT Special Advisor and Advisor to UN Secretary General Annan’s Task Force on ICT.

Martijn Oosterwoud, Executive Director, leads the products stream within the Chief Sustainability Office of UBS Group.

In this role, Martijn works closely with the investment, product management and global sales teams in the various divisions of UBS Group. Martijn joined UBS in February 2017 and is based in Zürich, Switzerland.

Prior to UBS, he worked eight years at RobecoSAM, as head of Client Portfolio Management globally. Previous jobs include Fixed Income Investment Specialist at ING Investment Management and Head of Research for Amsterdamse Investerings Bank.

Martijn graduated with a MSc in Monetary Economics and holds an investment certificate of the University of Groningen.

Dr. Michael A. Ridley is a Director and Senior Responsible Investment Specialist at HSBC AM where he leads on green bonds, sustainable infrastructure and biodiversity. Prior to HSBC AM Michael was Global Head of ESG Fixed Income Research at HSBC from 2015 to 2020 where he led research on green bonds and ESG integration. Michael was twice voted no. 2 green bond analyst in the Euromoney global fixed income research poll.

Michael has previously held senior credit research roles for Citigroup and for Mizuho International, covering the utility, energy and mining sectors. He has also worked as a consultant to the UK’s Carbon Trust and the German government development agency GiZ.

Michael holds a PhD in Environmental Economics from University College London and Masters degrees from Yale University and the London School of Economics. Michael is a published author on sustainable finance and has lectured on this topic at the Cambridge University Judge Business school.

Dr. Kalpana Seethepalli is the Director of ESG for Asia Pacific and leads the work on results frameworks, measurement, monitoring and sustainable finance taxonomies for ESG transactions.

Dr. Seethepalli brings 20 years of sustainable finance experience across 15 countries from the multilateral and private equity markets. She is a global expert in design, measurement and reporting frameworks to achieve positive ESG impact through commercially viable investments.

Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Dr. Seethepalli was Managing Director, Sustainability & Impact for Infra-Tech Capital, an impact fund investing in companies utilising technology to provide infrastructure services and achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals. She joined Infra-Tech Capital after a long career with the World Bank Group focusing on sustainable development and investment policy, blended finance and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). She has $2 billion in direct investment experience in sustainable finance, and led complex World Bank advisory mandates in Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Mexico, Philippines, South Korea, South Africa, Poland, Timor Leste, Kenya and Ghana.

Dr. Seethepalli led the World Bank Group’s dialogue with APEC, ASEAN, G20 Finance Ministers, multilaterals and development partners, and is a frequent speaker participant on sustainable financing at global fora, such as the World Economic Forum, convening private investors, advisors and thought leaders. She has also strengthened dialogue with NGOs and global civil society on ESG issues on live investments.

Jenn-Hui Tan is Global Head of Stewardship & Sustainable Investing for Fidelity International.

Jenn-Hui Tan is responsible for providing external and internal leadership for Fidelity’s sustainable investing activities, including the strategy and policies on engagement, voting and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration.

Jenn-Hui Tan joined Fidelity International in 2007 from Norton Rose Fulbright, where he was a corporate finance lawyer advising on capital market and M&A transactions.

He holds an LLB Law degree from the University of Durham.

Matthew Vincent is the editor of FT Project Publishing. He was previously regulation correspondent, Lombard columnist, deputy companies editor, UK companies Editor, and editor of the FT Money section. His investment articles regularly appear in FT Wealth magazine.

Matthew was named National Journalist of the Year by the Investment Management Association in 2011, a year after winning the Best Newspaper Journalist award from the Association of Investment Companies. He began his career with the FT Group on Investors Chronicle, which he edited for five years.

Denise Voss  is a Non-Executive Director of financial services companies and serves as a Director on the Boards of flagship funds of major fund promoters.

Ms Voss has worked in the financial industry in Luxembourg since 1990, and retired from Franklin Templeton in March 2020 after 25 years, where she was a Conducting Officer and member of the board of Franklin Templeton International Services S.à r.l., a Luxembourg-based management company. Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, she worked for 10 years at Coopers & Lybrand in Boston, USA and Luxembourg. She holds a Massachusetts C.P.A. license and obtained a bachelors degree from Tufts University, as well as a masters degree in accountancy from Bentley University.

Ms Voss is currently Chairwoman of LuxFLAG, an independent agency created in Luxembourg in 2006 to support the financing of sustainable development, by providing clarity for investors through awarding internationally recognised Labels to eligible investment vehicles. LuxFLAG also supports a strong network of Associate Members and key partners and regularly shares information on new developments in sustainable finance. She is also Chairwoman of the EFAMA Investor Education Platform, and was Chairwoman of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) from 2015-2019, a member of the ALFI board of directors from 2007-2019 and is currently a member of the ALFI Strategic Board.

Petr Wagner is currently Deputy Head of International Affairs Unit in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services, and Capital Markets Union.

Lawyer by education, he started his professional career in the private sector before joining the European Commission in 2005, where he worked in the Directorate General for Internal Market, in the area of public procurement policy, negotiating the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and then moving to financial services.

From 2015 to 2018, Petr represented the EU (DG FISMA) as Finance Counsellor at the EU Delegation to the USA in Washington D.C. .

Back at the Brussels headquarters, he joined the insurance unit until 2019, then he was appointed Deputy Head of unit of DG FISMA International affairs, with as a main task the handling the negotiations with the United Kingdom in the area of finance.

Petr holds a Master degree in European law from the College of Europe in Bruges and a Master degree from the Palacký University in Olomouc (Czech Republic).

Hugh Wheelan is Co-founder and Joint Managing Director of Responsible Investor, now part of PEI Media.

A media entrepreneur, Hugh co-created Responsible Investor in 2007 and built the company to become one of the world’s most respected sustainable finance media and events companies. As a journalist, he has written extensively on investment, corporate and sustainability issues for international newspapers including The Guardian and The Financial Times.  He has interviewed some of the biggest names in global finance and sustainability.  Hugh has won many journalism awards during his career.

In 2020, he won the Outstanding Contribution to Institutional Journalism at the State Street Press Awards. He won the respected Aon Consulting award for European Pensions and Investment Journalist of the Year in 2006.  From 2004 to 2007 he was Paris Correspondent and before that Fund Management Editor at Financial News, part of the Wall Street Journal.

Prior to that he was Political and Economic advisor to the Secretary General of Amnesty International.

Tracy Wong Harris is the Head of Sustainable Finance for Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered Bank, focusing on the Bank’s sustainable finance strategy, by developing new products and solutions, further incorporating ESG considerations into banking decisions, and identifying sustainable finance opportunities for clients. Tracy is also the Vice President and Deputy Secretary General of Hong Kong Green Finance Association (HKGFA), the Senior Advisor to the Green Building Project of HK2050isNow, and an appointed member of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Climate Change Technical Expert Group (TEG).

Prior to joining Standard Chartered, Tracy had been driving the green and sustainable finance development in Hong Kong and had over 16 years of financial markets experiences across various fixed income and complex structured products in JPMorgan, Mizuho International, Barclays Capital and BNP Paribas based in London and Hong Kong.

Tracy received her MSc and BA in International Finance and Capital Markets in the United Kingdom, graduated from the Oxford Said Business School in Social Finance and a certified member of Hong Kong Treasury Markets Association (HKTMA).

Board member of AIDS Concern, previously served as Board member of the Hong Kong LGBT+ Interbank, founder of the JPM PRIDE HK network and received JPMorgan Employee Appreciation Award in 2015.

William Wright is the Founder and Managing Director of New Financial, a capital markets think tank and forum.

William launched New Financial in 2014 to make the positive case for the vital role that capital markets play in driving prosperity. New Financial believes Europe needs bigger and better capital markets – and that this represents a huge opportunity for the industry and its customers to embrace change and rethink how capital markets work.

William is a writer and commentator on investment banking and financial markets. He was a member of the launch team at Financial News in March 1996 and was Editor of the publication between 2004 and 2011.

In this time Financial News established itself as one of the most widely-read and respected publications for the asset management and investment banking industries. He played a central role in the sale of the business to The Wall Street Journal in 2007 and in its subsequent integration into Dow Jones.

He is a regular speaker and moderator at conferences and private events, and commentator on TV and radio news programmes, including the Today programme and BBC News.

He studied at Oxford and London universities and INSEAD. Born in the UK, he has also lived and worked in France, Germany and Hungary.