Workshop - Connecting Asia and Europe: Asset & Wealth Management, Green Finance and Digital Assets

Tom Théobald is CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, the Agency for the Development of the Financial Centre.

Previously, he served as Director for the Development of the Financial Centre at the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance. Tom sits on the Advisory Board of the Department of Finance of the University of Luxembourg, is Board member of the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT), and was a member of the Luxembourg Trade & Investment Board, as well as a member of the Management Board of the National Data Exchange Platform (PNED G.I.E.).

Prior to joining the Ministry in March 2019, Tom was Deputy CEO of Luxembourg for Finance from 2014 to 2019. He worked as Adviser at the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL), where he was in charge of Communication and Press Relations. He also held the position of Secretary of the ABBL Board of Directors and served as an attaché to the Permanent Mission of Luxembourg to the United Nations in New York.

Tom holds a Doctorate in English Literature from Newcastle University in the UK.

Lorenzo is an expert of Luxembourg financial services for over 25 years.

Prior to joining the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative (LSFI), Lorenzo was Head of Business Development at BNP Paribas Asset Management, Luxembourg, and Head of Sales at Eurizon Capital. He also worked as portfolio manager at several banks such as Edmond de Rothschild (Europe) and Intesa Sanpaolo.

In addition, through his extensive experience in the financial sector, he has consistently been exposed to the latest developments in sustainable finance. He has further enhanced this practical knowledge through several certifications aimed at upskilling in sustainable finance.

Britta Borneff is Chief Marketing Officer at ALFI since November 2022. She is a senior investment fund specialist with 27 years of experience in the Luxembourg fund industry. Her career spans governance, operations, client relationship management, and marketing expertise.

Before ALFI, Britta was Managing Director at Fuchs Asset Management (2021–2022), an independent third-party UCITS ManCo and AIFM. From 2007 to 2021, she served as Head of Sales & Marketing and Executive Committee member at Waystone Management Company (formerly MDO), and as Conducting Officer at Waystone Corporate Services. She began her career at Schroders in Luxembourg in 1996, where she spent 11 years in marketing and client relationship roles.

Britta holds the INSEAD Certificate in Corporate Governance and has served on boards of Luxembourg UCITS funds. She is fluent in German, English, French, and Dutch.

Charlotte Chen is a partner at Elvinger Hoss Prussen, based in Hong Kong, specializing in investment fund and corporate law. She focuses on the establishment and structuring of investment funds under regulated and non-regulated vehicles, catering to Asian and global asset managers. Charlotte possesses extensive expertise advising institutional and private investors on fund investments and fund structure acquisitions. Since June 2022, she has served as the resident partner leading the firm’s Hong Kong office, overseeing business development, client relationships, and strategic growth in the APAC region.

With more than a decade of experience in the financial and legal sectors, Charlotte regularly advises on a wide range of fund types, including private equity, real estate, and hedge funds, aligning structures with evolving market conditions and investor requirements.

Charlotte is an active contributor to the legal and financial communities through her involvement in key industry associations in Luxembourg and in Asia. She is also a member of the Hong Kong Federation of Women Lawyers, advocating for the advancement of women in the legal profession.

She is proficient in English, Cantonese, Mandarin and French, enabling her to serve a diverse client base effectively.

Crystal joined BNPP AM’s Sustainability Centre in the beginning of 2023 focusing on ESG integration across all asset classes in Asia. As the dedicated research lead for the Asian region, she drives the research, development and implementation of ESG research which supports ESG integration in the region (including with BNPP AM’S Asian joint venture business partners) aligned with BNPP AM’s Global Sustainability Strategy. Crystal is also responsible for supporting sustainability engagement activities with companies in the region.

She has more than 12 years of diverse sustainability experience. She was the Principle ESG expert and Head of ESG Strategy at Ping An Insurance Group (2018-2022). Crystal was also previously ESG consultant at Ernst & Young and the Head of China ESG solutions at S&P Global. She has participated in the establishment of several ESG regulations in China and overseas.

Crystal holds an MBA from Johnson school of business in Cornell University and finance MBA from Tsinghua University, and Msc in Building Performance and Sustainability from the National University of Singapore.

Chris Hollifield is Head of Business Development at Luxembourg for Finance, where his work involves advising FinTech and financial companies looking to develop cross-border activity through Luxembourg-based platforms. He also advises on the development of the ecosystem in Luxembourg and on synergy creation with other key financial centres, with a focus on East Asia.

Prior to working at Luxembourg for Finance, Chris worked in the strategy department of Clearstream Banking SA, an International Central Securities Depository that facilitates the settlement of interbank transactions in over 50 markets worldwide. Here, his work focused particularly on strategic projects concerning distributed ledger technology and other FinTech topics.

Allan Song is the Head of Data & Digital for Financing & Securities Services (FSS) at Standard Chartered, based in Hong Kong. As a global transformation leader, his mandate covers 40 markets in Asia, Middle East and Africa, leading a portfolio of Data, AI and Digital Asset transformation programs focused on driving industry leading asset servicing capabilities across custody, funds and digital.

He is passionate about solving complex problems and developing strategic global solutions to improve automation, scalability, client experience, regulatory adherence, and operational effectiveness.  In recent years, his focus has been ensuring Business, Operations and Technology teams in Standard Chartered continue be an industry leader in adopting emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, in order to future proof against accelerated market disruption.

Allan has 20 years of experience in financial services, and prior to Standard Chartered, has held senior positions at other financial institutions where he has led COO, technology, operations, business architecture and data analytics teams.

He holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, in the same faculty as Professor Geoffrey Hinton and OpenAI Co-Founder Ilya Sutskever, specializing in computational complexity theory, financial engineering and data management.  He continues to be active in artificial intelligence and digital asset communities across the industry.

Gabriel Wilson-Otto is the Head of Sustainable Investing Strategy at Fidelity International and based in Hong Kong.

Gabriel leads the global development of sustainable investment frameworks, policies, proprietary tools and product offerings. He works closely with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to support Fidelity’s sustainable investing ambition and to develop solutions for clients.

Gabriel joined Fidelity in 2021 from BNP Paribas Asset Management where he was Global Head of Sustainability Research and had previously held the position of Head of Stewardship, Asia Pacific. Prior to BNPP AM, he was an Executive Director in Goldman Sachs’ Global Investment Research division and Head of GS SUSTAIN for Asia. 

Gabriel holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Economics) and a Bachelor of Information Systems from the University of Melbourne. He is a CFA charter holder.

Fang Zhang is leading business development in Asia Pacific region at Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE). Since joining LuxSE in July 2022, Fang Zhang has been the driving force behind the exchange’s business development projects in Greater China region and beyond. With 20+ years of experience working in financial institutions in both China and Luxembourg, Fang Zhang is LuxSE’s expert in all matters relating to Asian capital markets including relations with financial infrastructure and issuers, sustainable finance and listing.

Before joining LuxSE, Fang played a pivotal role in the establishment of China Merchants Bank (CMB)’s Luxembourg Branch, preparing the bank’s regulatory (CSSF) application for a banking license in Luxembourg, and policies and procedures for new overseas branch in the preparatory team. During her 8 years at CMB Luxembourg, Fang served as Head of Corporate Banking Business and Financial Institution Business, where she was responsible for business development and sustainable bond issuance and listing. Fang also held the role of Head of Middle Office during which time she was responsible for the branch’s credit risk management, liquidity and operational risk management and regulatory reporting.

Fang began her career at CMB’s domestic branch in Wuxi, where she engaged in corporate banking business, retail credit business and credit risk management. After 10 years of work experience in China, she was selected by CMB’s Head Office to help lead the establishment of its overseas branch in the EU.

Fang Zhang holds a BA degree in Finance, graduating in 2004 from Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, and is currently studying under the MBA programme at the Luxembourg School of Business.