Geraldine Buckingham, Senior Managing Director, is BlackRock's Chair for the Asia Pacific region and a member of the firm's Global Executive Committee. She is responsible for all business activities in the region, which includes Greater China, Japan, Australia, Singapore, India and Korea. Dr. Buckingham previously served as Global Head of Corporate Strategy at BlackRock and was responsible for helping BlackRock develop and implement long-term goals and respond to the competitive financial services landscape. She was named to Fortune Magazine and Crain's New York Business' "40 Under 40" lists for 2017.

Prior to joining BlackRock in 2014, Dr. Buckingham was a partner with McKinsey & Company's financial services practice based in New York. She worked primarily with large global asset managers with additional experience in wealth management and private equity, as well as functional expertise in strategy and organization.

Dr. Buckingham received the Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University, where she earned a Master of Philosophy degree in Comparative Social Policy. She earned her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degrees from Monash University.

Amy Cho is the Chief Executive Officer, Hong Kong for Schroders. In her role also as the Head of Distribution, Asia Pacific, she leads both the intermediary and institutional businesses across the APAC region.

Amy has a proven executive management track record and decades of experience driving business growth in the fund management industry. Before joining Schroders in December 2018, she was Managing Director and Regional Head of Business Development, APAC ex-Japan, for Pictet Asset Management. Prior to that, Amy was Director of Sales & Marketing at First State Investments covering Hong Kong and the North Asian markets.

Previously, she held senior positions at HSBC Asset Management and Citibank. Amy also serves on various professional bodies. She is the Vice-chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (“HKIFA”). She also sits on the Steering Committee of the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“ASIFMA”).

In advocating gender equality in the financial sector, Amy is a founding executive sponsor of the Hong Kong chapter of Bloomberg Women’s Buy-side Network (“BWBN”), the first women’s buy-side network of its kind in Asia. In promoting Hong Kong’s financial services, Amy is a member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s
(“HKTDC”) Financial Services Advisory Committee. Amy holds a BSc (Eng.) degree from the Faculty of Industrial Engineering, University of Hong Kong.

Farah Foustok is the Chief Executive Officer of Lazard Gulf Ltd. (“LGL”) based in Dubai. Farah is also a board member of LGL and Lazard Saudi Arabia. She began working in the investment field in 1994. Prior to joining Lazard in 2014, she was Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of ING Investment Management Middle East from 2008. Previously, she was the Head of Asset Management at NBD Investment Bank.

Farah spent five years at Deutsche Bank in London, in Equity Strategy. She has also worked at Morgan Stanley within Equity Sales, followed by three years in commercial real estate advisory in Europe. Farah has Private Equity exposure through a private venture in Argentina and a crowd funding platform in the UK.

In February 2020 Farah joined the first Middle East board of Room to Read, with the mission to create access to education for all children. In January 2020, Farah founded TARA, a speed mentoring NGO platform to connect the Education sector to the corporate world and develop an alumni of future female leaders.
In 2019, Farah was awarded International Investment Woman of the Year by Women in Investment Awards, London. In December 2019 Farah became a co-chair of the Women in Business Action Council for the B20; to create & deliver a policy paper on an inclusive society, for Governments of the G20.

In 2015 Farah founded and chaired the Steering Committee for the MENA chapter of the 30% club to develop & promote female leadership in the region and joined the Global Advisory Committee in 2020. Farah co-founded the first non-profit female mentoring program in the DIFC, Dubai; Reach in 2013. Farah was elected as the chairperson of the board for the UAE Financial Services Association in 2012.

Farah has appeared in the Forbes 100 Power Businesswomen in the Middle East for more than 8 consecutive years; recognised by the Financial Times on the FTHeroes list, Emirates Woman Achiever award and several other recognitions over the last 15yrs in the Middle East.

Farah is a finance leaders fellow of the Aspen Institute and holds an MBA from Imperial College, London and a BSc Hons in Mathematics from King’s College, London. Farah has also completed courses in Fintech from Said Business School, Oxford and the Foundations of Positive Psychology from University of Pensylvania.

Lakshmi heads fixed income and products team at KMAMC. She has been with the organisation since 1999. Lakshmi joined KMAMC as a fund manager, and was responsible for credit research as well as deal execution, managing fund performance across all debt funds and assisting sales in client interaction. She has also been a portfolio specialist, and managed product related initiatives, product pricing and coordination with the funds management and sales team in that role. Prior to Kotak, Lakshmi worked with Credence Analytics Pvt Ltd, as a research analyst where she was tracking corporate bond markets in India and generating research reports. She was also instrumental for conceiving various financial software tools in collaboration with software and technical teams.

Dr. Mark Konyn is the Group Chief Investment Officer responsible for providing oversight of the management of the investment portfolios of the Group as well as supervising and supporting the many investment professionals throughout the Group. He is a director of various companies within the Group including Chairman of AIA Investment Management Private Limited and AIA Investment Management HK Limited. He joined the Group in September 2015. 

Dr. Konyn joined AIA from Cathay Conning Asset Management, where he was Chief Executive Officer responsible for the company’s investment business and strategic expansion in the region. He had held senior positions at Allianz Global Investors (where he was Asia-Pacific CEO for RCM Global Investors), Fidelity Investments and Prudential UK. He is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, and holds a Diploma from the London Business School in Investment Management, having previously completed his Ph.D. in Operational Research sponsored by the UK Government.

Zainab is based in Invesco’s Dubai International Financial Centre office and is responsible for developing and leading Invesco’s wholesale and institutional business across the Middle East and Africa. She leads a team that represents Invesco’s full range of investment strategies across a broad set of asset classes and vehicles to private and retail banks, sovereign investors, pension funds, investment companies and family offices.

Zainab has more than 15 years’ experience in the asset management industry, spanning London and Dubai within sales, marketing and strategy roles. Prior to joining Invesco in 2009, Zainab was part of Fidelity International’s Middle East & UK Institutional Marketing and Sales team in London from 2005 – 2009. Prior to this, Zainab began her career as a Technical Analyst for Stockcube Research in London where she analysed Asia Pacific Equities and advised on market timing decisions.

Zainab holds a degree in Economics and International Studies from The University of Warwick, the Investment Management Certificate from the CFA Society UK, and the Certificate in Securities and Financial Derivatives. She is fluent is both Arabic and English.

As a global investment leader with a track record of over 30-year of performance, team leadership and innovation, Virginie is the Founder of MGA Consulting as well as an Advisory Council member at the Future Of Finance (CFA Institute).

She has held various portfolio management and CIO positions for companies such as Eastspring, Pimco, Schroders, Clay Finlay, Batterymarch, State Street Research and Martin Currie in various part of the world including Singapore, New York, Boston San Francisco and London. She started her career in China working as a consultant for the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Beijing while attending Political Economy classes at People’s University. As an investor she is recognized as a pioneer in areas such as China, “Quanta-mental”, ESG and Climate Change.

Virginie is a member of the Future of Finance Council (CFA) and a high-profile public speaker and global media commentator. She is regularly interviewed by Bloomberg, CNBC, BBC and is a thought leader on topics such as global markets outlook, sustainability, diversity and creative disruption in the asset management industry. She was chair of the CFA UK woman’s network and is a founding member of the Buy-side Bloomberg Women’s network.

Named Top Women in Finance in Europe in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014. One of Money Management Executive's 2014 Top Women in Asset Management. 2019 Investment Week Highly Commended International Investment Woman of the year.

Connie Phoon oversees client relationships as a Relationship Manager with Bloomberg's Enterprise Sales team. With a focus on the buy-side, she has deep experience in the strategic alignment of clients' business goals with complex technology solutions and has worked with some of the largest buy-side firms across hedge funds, asset management, insurance and family offices.

Connie also helped spearhead the launch of the Bloomberg Women's Buyside Network, an informal community for women in the asset management industry in late 2018, which has since expanded to include India, Hong Kong and Japan chapters. Connie joined Bloomberg in 2015. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the Australian National University.

Noor Sweid is the founder of Global Ventures, a UAE-based, growth-stage venture capital firm. Noor was the Chief Investment Officer at The Dubai Future Foundation and Managing Partner at Leap Ventures, a growth-stage venture capital firm based out of Dubai and Beirut. 

Prior, Noor joined her family business, Depa (NASDAQ: DEPA.DU), where she enabled the scaling of the business tenfold, executed four cross border acquisitions and led the region’s first IPO on the LSE and the NASDAQ Dubai achieving a billion+ dollar valuation.

Noor also founded ZenYoga, the first yoga studio in MENA, which grew to become the region’s largest wellness chain before successfully exiting to a private equity firm. Noor started her career as a biotech strategy consultant at Accenture in the US.

Noor is an active board member, including Chairwoman of the Middle East Venture Capital Association, Director for MIT Sloan, and was a Founding Board member of Endeavor UAE.

Noor was recognized in the World’s Top 50 Women in Tech by Forbes, Arabian Business 100 Most Powerful Arab Women list, and has received the Arab Woman Award for Finance.

Noor holds bachelors’ degrees in Finance and Economics from Boston College as well as an MBA from MIT Sloan.

Belina has over 20 years of corporate communications experience, and has worked with leading companies and CEOs in New York, London, Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing. She advises companies on corporate reputation and positioning, issues management and international media relations across financial services, technology and consumer sectors.

Having spent her early years in New York, eight years in China and the last 9 years in Singapore, Belina has acquired a global view of the changing business landscape and ever-evolving financial markets. She has led communications for some of the most high profile and complex assignments including the Beijing Olympic Games, China's index inclusion and the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore and Beijing. Bi-cultural and bilingual, Belina has also advised several Chinese companies in support of their global ambitions and expansion plans.

In recent years, Belina established the Bloomberg Women's Buyside Network, a community of senior female investment professionals, a first in Singapore. The network aims to convene the investment community in Asia and inspire the next generation of buyside professionals. Belina also led Bloomberg Startup in Singapore, an education initiative targeting pre-university and university students on global finance, leadership and data. Startup has reached thousands of students in Asia Pacific. 

Philippa Thompson leads Bloomberg's Buyside business across Asia-Pacific. Based in Hong Kong, she oversees sales, implementation, and client service for the region. She has deep experience in the asset management industry, having worked with and advised some of the largest buy-side firms on complex and large-scale technology initiatives. Philippa is also co-author of the 'Buyside Journey,' a thought leadership white paper on options asset managers and buy-side leaders can consider on their data and technology transformation journey.

Philippa joined Bloomberg in 2008 and led the Northern Europe buyside business in 2014 before moving to Hong Kong to head the Asia-Pacific business side in 2016. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in French and Linguistics from the University of Leeds.

Miray Zaki is a Managing Partner of Dismatrix - which invests in sustainable yet financially plausible investments across VC and PE predominantly within the US and Europe. 

Prior to that, she managed over $17 billion for various firms - including as the Chief Investment officer of the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable & Humanitarian Foundation (2018-2019) and at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA, 2008-2018). Her prior experiences include: VP at Endeavor Capital - a mid-market private equity firm in Chicago, Deutsche Bank in the UK, Orascom Telecom, and Schlumberger.

Miray is a twice-nominated Top 100 Most Influential Women in Finance by Dow Jones Financial News for both 2015 and 2016. She was an award-winning Fulbright Scholar and amongst the youngest nominated globally for the Aspen Institute.

She holds an MBA in Finance and Economics from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (Booth) and a Bachelor of Science from the American University in Cairo. She also obtained her CFA Charter in 2010.

She currently sits on the boards of Mathew Kenney Cuisine (Vegan, US), The Vurger Co (Vegan, UK), ZED Aerospace (private airline, US), Beau’s ice-cream (UK), and Kale United (Sweden), Avanz Global Markets (Mauritius).

Huda Al Lawati’s career has spanned 18 years in private equity and investments across emerging markets.

As Partner at Gateway Partners Group she is a member of the Investment Committee and leads deal origination, execution and portfolio management in the Middle East and Africa regions. Prior to Gateway Miss Al Lawati was Chief Investment Officer for Savola Group, one of the largest publicly-listed strategic investment holding groups for food & retail businesses in the Middle East and North Africa region. At Savola, where she was responsible for business and investment strategy, portfolio management, M&A and investor relations. She built a professional investment team; led restructuring efforts for ailing subsidiaries; initiated digitization programs; instituted capital allocation, portfolio management, investor relations and M&A processes; and completed M&A and disposal transactions of US$ 500m. Prior to Savola, Huda was a Partner and Chief Investment Officer for MENA at the Abraaj Group, where she deployed over $1 billion in equity capital into MBOs, LBOs, venture capital, growth capital and structured equity transactions and arranged over US$1.5 billion in acquisition and related financing across a broad range of sectors.

She is currently a board member at Tim Hortons Middle East and Gateway Delta Development Holdings (Africa) and has served on the boards of Panda Retail Company, Herfy, AlKabeer, Savola Foods Company, SMG, The Entertainer and Kudu. She has also served on audit and renumeration committees. She is also a member of the board of directors the Young Arab Leaders and the Middle East Investor Relations Association and a member of the advisory board of Global Ventures.

Miss Al Lawati holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics (Honors) from Brown University.

Elissar Farah Antonios is Citi’s Cluster Head for Middle East and North Africa. In addition to her regional role, Elissar serves as Chief Executive Officer for Citi UAE and will remain the Senior Executive Officer for Citi DIFC and Citi ADGM. A seasoned international banker, with extensive experience in the financial industry and the region, Elissar manages overall responsibility for driving the franchise businesses in theMENA region.

Elissar joined Citi in 2005 as Head of Private Banking in Abu Dhabi and later served as CEO for Citi Lebanon. In December 2015 she was appointed as CEO of Citibank UAE, and her responsibilities expanded in 2019 as the Cluster Head for UAE, Levant & Iraq and in December 2020 she became the Cluster Head for MENA.

Her banking career started in 1990 in the London office of Republic National Bank of New York as a Management Associate covering the Wealth Management Middle East Desk. She then spent several
years with Credit Agricole Indosuez (CALYON) in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and with ABN AMRO Private Bank covering both Abu Dhabi and Egypt.

In her 30 years focusing on this region, Elissar has developed close relationships with a wide range of Public Sector, high net worth clients and family offices- advising, recommending, managing portfolios and providing solutions. She combines strategic thinking and market understanding with an in-depth appreciation of clients’ needs.

Currently, Elissar represents Citi on major trade and business associations including UAE Banks Federation, US UAE Business Council, Amcham Dubai and Amcham Abu Dhabi , and previously served as Board Member of Amcham Abu Dhabi. She is also the senior sponsor of Citi’s Women Network in the UAE.

Elissar is an active member in several community service and business development organizations. She is currently serving as Chairperson of Injaz-Al Arab/Junior Achievement UAE. She is an Advisory Board Member of the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut. Elissar is also a steering committee member of the Middle East Inclusion & Diversity Council which aims to promote Inclusion and Diversity within the workplace.

Elissar is ranked by Forbes Middle East among the top 100 most powerful and influential Arab businesswomen and she was recognized among Top 20 Women Leading Top Companies in the Middle East. Furthermore, Financial News named Elissar on it’s list of the top 50 Most Influential Women in Finance in the Middle East.

Her MBA is from Imperial College in London where her thesis dealt with predicting turning points in foreign exchange. She has a Bachelor degree in Mathematics from the American University of Beirut and is fluent in Arabic, English and French. Elissar is a mother of two Layal and Rayan and married to Assaad Antonios.

Steven de Vries has 25 years’ experience as a distribution leader in the asset management industry. He has a strong track record in raising capital with wholesale and institutional clients as well as in building teams and developing stakeholder relationships at all levels. He has extensive experience in working with and managing international, multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams. After working at ING and AXA Investment Managers he spent 18 year at Janus Henderson Investors where he successfully built a European wholesale business and created and led a Global Financial Institutions team. Steven has a track record as Board member and Director of various corporate entities and is currently acting as an independent fund distribution consultant. He was active as a mentor in the 30% Club and is currently involved with Tara as a mentor.

Ms. Desmond holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MA in East Asian Studies from Stanford University. After working for the Japanese government for two years, she began her investment career as a Pacific Basin investment manager with Shearson Lehman Global Asset Management. In 1991 Ms. Desmond joined Mondrian Investment Partners’ predecessor organization as a founding member after previously working as a Pacific Basin equity analyst and senior portfolio manager at Hill Samuel Investment Advisers Ltd. She is a Director and leads the International Equity investment team; in addition she chairs the International Equity Strategy Committee. Ms. Desmond is a CFA Charterholder, and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of the UK. She sits on the CFA UK’s Advisory Council.

Tracy won international fame in 1990 as the skipper of the first all-female crew to sail around the world when they raced Maiden in the 1989/90 WRTWR.  Maiden won two legs and came second overall in her class, the best result for a British boat since 1977 and unbeaten to this day.   Tracy paved the way for other women to follow.  Maiden was sold but was found and restored by Tracy in 2017.  The Maiden Factor Foundation was set up to promote and fundraise for the education of 130 million girls worldwide who are currently denied this basic right.  Maiden is now an Ambassador for the Empowerment of Girls through Education with a focus on girls’ access to STEM subjects to increase life and career opportunities.

Alice Ervaz is a Global Governance student at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” in Italy. She has collaborated with the Global Education and Leadership Foundation to deliver the EWC, the largest virtual startup competition in the world and is currently working in the field of sustainable finance for retail investors.

Alice is very passionate about impact investing and volunteering. She is an active member of several international organizations, such as AIESEC, Junior Enterprise and YOUNGO.

Currently, Teri Fioramonti is completing an International MBA and Masters of International Relations in IE. Simultaneously, she is the IE Student Leadership President and IMBA Women for Women Mentor. Teri studied Economics and Chemistry before a successful few years in project financial analysis at RTI International, a leading research institute. Breaking from the norm, she left for SE Asia, living and working in 6 different countries. Teri spent this time teaching Montessori, volunteering with underprivileged children, and serving on the Hanoi International Women's Club board. This exposure has given Teri exceptional cultural awareness and adaptability. Choosing to go to grad school, Teri wanted to stay in an international environment, so IE was a natural choice. Today at  IE, Teri's ambitions are to cultivate an engaging student environment, build meaningful relationships with students across intakes and programs, and involve herself in myriad opportunities that come her way.

Anne Marie is the Managing Director, Marketable Assets, for the Cambridge University Endowment Fund. Previously, she was with GIC, a sovereign wealth fund, where she spent 12 years as a Senior Vice President and Global Equities Portfolio Manager. Prior to GIC, she was with Morgan Stanley, where she worked for seven years as an equities Portfolio Manager (2002-2006) and an Equity Research Analyst (1999-2002). She also spent seven years with Deloitte & Touche in the US and UK. She earned her MBA from London Business School and her Bachelor of Arts degree (with Honors and Distinction) from the University of California at Berkeley. Anne Marie is a non-executive director of the Investor Forum, a CIC set up to facilitate engagement and long-term capital stewardship, and a co-founder of the charity Girls Are Investors (GAIN), which encourages young women to consider investing as a career.

Kathy is a Principal at Downing Ventures where she leads investments in early-stage technology companies across a wide range of sectors. She currently sits on the Board of ADAY (sustainable women’s apparel) and is a Board observer for TrinnyLondon (beauty & cosmetics) and two B2B SaaS businesses. Prior to joining Downing in March 2018, she worked at Microsoft and Bloomberg LP, and obtained an MBA from Oxford.

Ms. Haimoff has over 28 years of private equity investment and advisory experience. She joined the Private Equity Group of JP Morgan Asset Management in May 2002 and is based in London. Dana is responsible for sourcing and leading private equity investments including fund commitments, co-investments and secondary opportunities on behalf of institutional clients. Dana is a director on the board of JPMorgan Asset Management International Ltd and JPMorgan Asset Management (UK) Ltd and is responsible for the firm’s EMEA Alternatives as its Senior Manager Certificate Regime. Prior to JP Morgan, Dana spent seven years at Merrill Lynch’s investment bank in the Private Equity Placement Group.  She is the co-Founder of Level20, a leading European organization set up to encourage women to succeed in the private equity industry.  She is also a member of the British Venture Capital Association’s Limited Partner Committee. Dana attended Skidmore College and received her MBA from Columbia University. 

Yulim Kim is a first year undergraduate at the University of Cambridge. She studies Land Economy, an interdisciplinary course encompassing economics, law and the environment.  Since her first-hand experience as an investment analyst for a £30k student-run fund, she has enthusiastically pursued her interest in the investment sphere.

While facilitating and promoting GAIN events on campus as a GAIN ambassador for her university, she gained valuable insights from female investment professionals that encouraged her to explore a career in this field. Guided by the motto “do well, do good”, she hopes to delve deeper into sustainable finance, aspiring to support inclusive and sustainable growth through her work. 

Born in Romania to father quantum physicist and mother entrepreneur, Lorena has achieved 5 degrees in mathematics, economics and finance, published a book on Microfinance as a tool for empowering individuals towards Sustainable Growth, created a decade-long career in strategy and investment management with global institutions working with portfolios of over £200billion while also being a extreme athlete with 2 world record events. 

Following 7 years of personal health challenges Lorena founded iamYiam.com as a Preventive Precision Health platform poised to leverage research, ML technology and creativity to empower 1bn people to take charge of their health everyday and lifelong

Celine Shi manages the buyside product business for mainland China, based in Shanghai. She works closely with the global buyside product teams, and is responsible for setting and driving business strategies for the buyside market in China, through establishing strategic partnerships and driving product localizations. Celine’s team is dedicated and specialized in providing front-to-back buyside solutions across OMS, portfolio management & risk analytics and index solutions.

Celine worked at United Overseas Bank Singapore, and joined Bloomberg Singapore in 2011, as the team leader for the advanced specialist team for financial products. She relocated to Bloomberg China in 2017 as the Head of China Analytics Department.

Celine graduated from Nanyang Technology University of Singapore, and obtained her Master Degree of Applied Finance from Singapore Management University. 

Tiffany Soerianto is currently studying Accounting & Finance at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Previously, she was a Global Markets Intern in Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She will be joining the company as an analyst in the coming summer.

During her free time, Tiffany loves to read and hike. Some of her favourite books are Principles by Ray Dalio, Money Games by Weijian Shan, Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

Paul Temperton began his career as an economist at the Bank of England before moving into investment banking with Merrill Lynch and then establishing TIER, an economic and financial market consultancy company. Paul graduated from Durham University, England with a first class honours degree in Economics and has the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification and the CFA Institute’s Certificate in Performance Measurement (CIPM) in 2013. He works on a voluntary basis for CFA Institute. He has written or edited eight books on monetary policy and the euro. He is a frequent facilitator of asset management events, notably for Invesco. 

Farah Foustok is the Chief Executive Officer of Lazard Gulf Ltd. (“LGL”) based in Dubai. Farah is also a board member of LGL and Lazard Saudi Arabia. She began working in the investment field in 1994. Prior to joining Lazard in 2014, she was Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of ING Investment Management Middle East from 2008. Previously, she was the Head of Asset Management at NBD Investment Bank.

Farah spent five years at Deutsche Bank in London, in Equity Strategy. She has also worked at Morgan Stanley within Equity Sales, followed by three years in commercial real estate advisory in Europe. Farah has Private Equity exposure through a private venture in Argentina and a crowd funding platform in the UK.

In February 2020 Farah joined the first Middle East board of Room to Read, with the mission to create access to education for all children. In January 2020, Farah founded TARA, a speed mentoring NGO platform to connect the Education sector to the corporate world and develop an alumni of future female leaders.
In 2019, Farah was awarded International Investment Woman of the Year by Women in Investment Awards, London. In December 2019 Farah became a co-chair of the Women in Business Action Council for the B20; to create & deliver a policy paper on an inclusive society, for Governments of the G20.

In 2015 Farah founded and chaired the Steering Committee for the MENA chapter of the 30% club to develop & promote female leadership in the region and joined the Global Advisory Committee in 2020. Farah co-founded the first non-profit female mentoring program in the DIFC, Dubai; Reach in 2013. Farah was elected as the chairperson of the board for the UAE Financial Services Association in 2012.

Farah has appeared in the Forbes 100 Power Businesswomen in the Middle East for more than 8 consecutive years; recognised by the Financial Times on the FTHeroes list, Emirates Woman Achiever award and several other recognitions over the last 15yrs in the Middle East.

Farah is a finance leaders fellow of the Aspen Institute and holds an MBA from Imperial College, London and a BSc Hons in Mathematics from King’s College, London. Farah has also completed courses in Fintech from Said Business School, Oxford and the Foundations of Positive Psychology from University of Pensylvania.

As a global investment leader with a track record of over 30-year of performance, team leadership and innovation, Virginie is the Founder of MGA Consulting as well as an Advisory Council member at the Future Of Finance (CFA Institute).

She has held various portfolio management and CIO positions for companies such as Eastspring, Pimco, Schroders, Clay Finlay, Batterymarch, State Street Research and Martin Currie in various part of the world including Singapore, New York, Boston San Francisco and London. She started her career in China working as a consultant for the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Beijing while attending Political Economy classes at People’s University. As an investor she is recognized as a pioneer in areas such as China, “Quanta-mental”, ESG and Climate Change.

Virginie is a member of the Future of Finance Council (CFA) and a high-profile public speaker and global media commentator. She is regularly interviewed by Bloomberg, CNBC, BBC and is a thought leader on topics such as global markets outlook, sustainability, diversity and creative disruption in the asset management industry. She was chair of the CFA UK woman’s network and is a founding member of the Buy-side Bloomberg Women’s network.

Named Top Women in Finance in Europe in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014. One of Money Management Executive's 2014 Top Women in Asset Management. 2019 Investment Week Highly Commended International Investment Woman of the year.

Amy Cho is the Chief Executive Officer, Hong Kong for Schroders. In her role also as the Head of Distribution, Asia Pacific, she leads both the intermediary and institutional businesses across the APAC region.

Amy has a proven executive management track record and decades of experience driving business growth in the fund management industry. Before joining Schroders in December 2018, she was Managing Director and Regional Head of Business Development, APAC ex-Japan, for Pictet Asset Management. Prior to that, Amy was Director of Sales & Marketing at First State Investments covering Hong Kong and the North Asian markets.

Previously, she held senior positions at HSBC Asset Management and Citibank. Amy also serves on various professional bodies. She is the Vice-chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (“HKIFA”). She also sits on the Steering Committee of the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“ASIFMA”).

In advocating gender equality in the financial sector, Amy is a founding executive sponsor of the Hong Kong chapter of Bloomberg Women’s Buy-side Network (“BWBN”), the first women’s buy-side network of its kind in Asia. In promoting Hong Kong’s financial services, Amy is a member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s
(“HKTDC”) Financial Services Advisory Committee. Amy holds a BSc (Eng.) degree from the Faculty of Industrial Engineering, University of Hong Kong.

Steven de Vries has 25 years’ experience as a distribution leader in the asset management industry. He has a strong track record in raising capital with wholesale and institutional clients as well as in building teams and developing stakeholder relationships at all levels. He has extensive experience in working with and managing international, multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams. After working at ING and AXA Investment Managers he spent 18 year at Janus Henderson Investors where he successfully built a European wholesale business and created and led a Global Financial Institutions team. Steven has a track record as Board member and Director of various corporate entities and is currently acting as an independent fund distribution consultant. He was active as a mentor in the 30% Club and is currently involved with Tara as a mentor.

Ms. Desmond holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MA in East Asian Studies from Stanford University. After working for the Japanese government for two years, she began her investment career as a Pacific Basin investment manager with Shearson Lehman Global Asset Management. In 1991 Ms. Desmond joined Mondrian Investment Partners’ predecessor organization as a founding member after previously working as a Pacific Basin equity analyst and senior portfolio manager at Hill Samuel Investment Advisers Ltd. She is a Director and leads the International Equity investment team; in addition she chairs the International Equity Strategy Committee. Ms. Desmond is a CFA Charterholder, and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of the UK. She sits on the CFA UK’s Advisory Council.

Kathy is a Principal at Downing Ventures where she leads investments in early-stage technology companies across a wide range of sectors. She currently sits on the Board of ADAY (sustainable women’s apparel) and is a Board observer for TrinnyLondon (beauty & cosmetics) and two B2B SaaS businesses. Prior to joining Downing in March 2018, she worked at Microsoft and Bloomberg LP, and obtained an MBA from Oxford.

Eleanor Seet joined Nikko Asset Management in 2011 as the President and Director of the Singapore entity. She became the Head of Asia ex-Japan in 2015 with expanded responsibility for driving the growth of Nikko AM in the region. She has oversight of Nikko AM’s Singapore and Hong Kong offices, with a total staff strength of approximately 150. Additionally, she leads in the management of Nikko AM's joint venture relationships in China and Malaysia.

Ms Seet is a member of the Financial Centre Advisory Panel set up by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to strengthen the dialogue and partnership between the regulator and the industry. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS). In 2017, she was conferred the IBF Fellow distinction by the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore. The IBF Fellow title recognises industry veterans who exemplify thought leadership and commitment to industry development.

 Ms Seet is a pioneer in asset management industry with 20 years’ experience. She has a strong background in the sales and marketing of investment solutions. Prior to joining Nikko AM Asia, Ms Seet led the distribution efforts for iShares concentrating on the wealth segments across Asia ex Japan. . She graduated with a Bachelor of Economics from the University of New South Wales, Sydney. 

Larissa Boehm is a Director at the EQMC fund with c. 15 years of international experience. Prior to joining EQMC in 2013, she worked as senior advisor in valuation for a German mid-market specialist (Dr. Dornbach & Partner). Before joining the financial industry she worked in the fashion industry within different stages of the value chain in India and Germany. She holds an MBA from IE Business School (2008), a CVA (2012) from IACVA and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma (international honour association).

Huda Al Lawati’s career has spanned 18 years in private equity and investments across emerging markets.

As Partner at Gateway Partners Group she is a member of the Investment Committee and leads deal origination, execution and portfolio management in the Middle East and Africa regions. Prior to Gateway Miss Al Lawati was Chief Investment Officer for Savola Group, one of the largest publicly-listed strategic investment holding groups for food & retail businesses in the Middle East and North Africa region. At Savola, where she was responsible for business and investment strategy, portfolio management, M&A and investor relations. She built a professional investment team; led restructuring efforts for ailing subsidiaries; initiated digitization programs; instituted capital allocation, portfolio management, investor relations and M&A processes; and completed M&A and disposal transactions of US$ 500m. Prior to Savola, Huda was a Partner and Chief Investment Officer for MENA at the Abraaj Group, where she deployed over $1 billion in equity capital into MBOs, LBOs, venture capital, growth capital and structured equity transactions and arranged over US$1.5 billion in acquisition and related financing across a broad range of sectors.

She is currently a board member at Tim Hortons Middle East and Gateway Delta Development Holdings (Africa) and has served on the boards of Panda Retail Company, Herfy, AlKabeer, Savola Foods Company, SMG, The Entertainer and Kudu. She has also served on audit and renumeration committees. She is also a member of the board of directors the Young Arab Leaders and the Middle East Investor Relations Association and a member of the advisory board of Global Ventures.

Miss Al Lawati holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics (Honors) from Brown University.

Sacha joined Global Ventures as a Senior Associate in early 2020. She has 5 years of investment experience across emerging markets including MENA, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia. Prior to joining Global Ventures, Sacha was an Associate at Colony Capital (US REIT) in Mexico City, for the firm’s sector agnostic Pacific Alliance fund. Sacha has also worked as part of The Abraaj Group's Sub-Saharan Africa Investment Team, based in Kenya, for the generalist fund. Prior to this, Sacha interned at L Catterton in Singapore as part of the value acceleration team. Sacha is fluent in Spanish and Urdu, and holds a BA in History and Politics from the University of Warwick.