THE JUDGES

Adam Cohen, CFA, ACA, Managing Director, is Head of the EMEA Financial Institutions Group within Global Fixed Income, and a member of the FIG PMG Exco. Prior to assuming his current role in 2009, Mr. Cohen was a member of the Global/Non-Dollar Portfolio Team within BlackRock's Fixed Income Portfolio Management Group where he was responsible for managing client portfolios with a sector emphasis on sterling corporate bond portfolios. Mr. Cohen's service with the firm dates back to 2000, including his years with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM), which merged with BlackRock in 2006. At MLIM, he was responsible for managing sterling corporate bond portfolios. Prior to joining MLIM, Mr. Cohen was in the Investment Management Group at Ernst & Young. Mr. Cohen earned a BA degree, with first class honours, in physics from Oxford University in 1997.

Fabrice has been Deputy Head of Insurance and Pension Advisory since 2022. He joined Candriam in 2012 where he has performed a broad range of financial engineering functions, including tailored investment solutions and liability driven investments for insurers and pension fund clients, and design of innovative investment strategies. Fabrice began his career in 2009 as an actuary within the financial oversight department of Alstom’s pension funds. Fabrice holds a master’s degree in management from the ESSEC business school and certified as an actuary from ISUP at the Sorbonne.

Gareth Haslip PhD FIA, joined J.P. Morgan Asset Management in 2013 and is responsible for delivering customised investment solutions to insurers and other institutional investors to achieve their objectives within the risk, regulatory, capital, and accounting environment of their business. Prior to joining, he held senior positions within the insurance space at Aon and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He has extensive experience in the insurance and investment industry, and his areas of expertise include stochastic modelling of insurance and asset risk, optimal investment strategies, and more. Gareth is a qualified investment actuary with 23 years of industry experience and holds a PhD in Actuarial Science from Cass Business School.

Gerard Moerman, PhD, is head of fixed income, LDI and investment solutions. This team is responsible for managing core fixed income strategies and advising and implementing matching solutions. Additionally, the team specialises in addressing the needs of insurance and defined contribution (DC) clients. Prior to his current role, Gerard headed the fiduciary services & investment solutions team focusing on balance sheet related topics. He joined the firm in 2005 as a portfolio manager focusing on tactical asset allocation and commodities strategies. In 2011, he was appointed head of rates and money markets. Gerard has been in the industry since 1999 and joined the firm in 2005. He holds a Master’s degree in econometrics and a PhD in finance.

Lionel leads our Fixed Income Investment Solutions team, where he manages Buy & Maintain, CDI and LDI portfolios on behalf of third-party client’s across Continental Europe/ Asia & the UK. Prior to this, Lionel headed our London-based Buy and Maintain Credit team, being responsible for the performance of all UK client portfolios. Lionel retains his responsibility in the management of AXA IM’s flagship Buy and Maintain pooled fund, the AXA Sterling Buy and Maintain Credit Fund, along with several sterling and global client portfolios. Lionel was a key member of the project team which developed and launched the flagship Buy and Maintain Credit strategy in 2012. He initially joined AXA IM in 2006 as a member of the UK Fixed Income team in London, primarily managing insurance portfolios. Lionel holds a Master’s in Financial Markets from the SKEMA Business School.

Mathias leads the Liability Aware investment team at abrdn, where he has been a key member since 2017. His primary focus lies in designing and managing portfolios for pension and insurance mandates. With a robust skill set encompassing fixed income and derivatives, Mathias brings invaluable insights to the industry. Before joining abrdn, Mathias led the LDI portfolio management team at State Street Global Advisors from 2012 onward. His career in asset management began in 2002 at AXA Investment Managers, where he specialised in credit and hedging mandates. Mathias holds an M.Phil in Finance from the University of Paris Dauphine.

Miguel Tizzone is an ALM actuary, working with insurers to structure and implement investment solutions for their balance sheets. Miguel is responsible for ICG’s insurance solutions capabilities, working to bring the best of ICG’s private market capabilities to insurers. Prior to ICG, Miguel was part of Schroder’s Insurance Solutions and Multi Asset teams, supporting the structuring, implementation, and portfolio management of a large book of insurance assets. Miguel is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and holds a degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Cape Town.

A seasoned expert in insurance and pensions solutions, Mr. Gazzola spent nearly 20 years working in fixed income markets out of London. Prior to joining DWS, Mr. Gazzola was at JPMorgan Asset Management, BlackRock and PIMCO, where he partnered with EMEA insurers and pension funds to promote strategic ALM, capital-optimized and ESG opportunities. He also served as a Credit Analyst at Fitch Ratings for five years, and worked in the M&A team of UBS New York. Mr. Gazzola earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, as well as an Economics Master’s degree from Università Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Italy.

Toni is a Partner in Pantheon’s Global Private Credit Investment and European Investment Teams. He previously worked in the private markets team at Cambridge Associates, where he advised institutional investors on their private market investment programs and conducted research and due diligence on private market funds, managers, and markets.

Toni has an MPhil in economics from the University of Oxford and a BEng in engineering with business finance, which was jointly taught at University College London and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is fluent in Finnish, Spanish and English.

Adam Ruddle is the Chief Investment Officer at LV=. He has responsibility for the investment management, allocation and optimisation of over £14bn of assets under management. His remit includes designing and setting investment strategies, managing group liquidity, the oversight of external asset managers and the structuring of physical and synthetic investment solutions for the company.

Adam has been with LV= for nearly 15 years working in a wide range of roles including Asset Liability Management, Financial Reporting and Valuation, Capital Management and With-Profits oversight. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and holds the Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary designation.

Andrew is Director of Financial Risk at Just Group in the UK. He is responsible for the oversight of the Group’s management of market, liquidity, credit, and insurance risks as well as the production of the Group’s ORSA and Run-off plan.

Andrew joined Just after 9 years at the Prudential Regulation Authority where he was Solvency II lead for several large firms, supported supervisors assessing complex financial and commercial risks and drove work on liquidity risk. Prior to this Andrew held a series of senior roles at Zurich Insurance Group across both life and non-life insurance including as Commercial Director of the offshore life business, leading the European direct to SME business, and leading strategic planning for UK subsidiaries.

Andrew has an MBA from London Business School where he focused on finance and strategy. He has also helped build nuclear submarines and teach people to ride motorcycles.

Ankit Goyal is the Head of Capital Management at Argo Group. In this role, he is responsible for developing and overseeing the capital management framework across regulatory, rating agencies and economic views of capital ensuring strong capitalization and its efficient utilization.

His prime focus is to have an effective capital strategy, provide insights into strategic initiatives and deliver risk-reward analysis to inform business decisions. Prior to that, he worked in actuarial consulting function in Deloitte and Willis Towers Watson. Ankit is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) and is a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary (CERA).

Ashish is the Chief Investment Officer for Aviva, managing c£300bn of assets. As CIO, he is responsible for defining the investment strategy, delivering Aviva’s sustainable investments ambitions, developing investment solutions, and ultimately for delivering the investment outcomes for Aviva’s shareholder and customer investments. Previously, Ashish led the formation of Aviva Investors’ first Global Research team and before that was Head of Credit Research for Aviva Investors North America.

Prior to joining Aviva, Ashish was a Director with UBS Investment Bank in New York and Chicago, and previously was a Senior Ratings Analyst with the Indian rating agency, Crisil. Ashish is a CFA charterholder and earned his MBA as a valedictorian from the Stern School of Business at New York University. He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Indore, India.

Chris joined Legal & General in 2017 and, before being appointed Group Treasurer in 2023, led the Group’s ALM Strategy. He has 17 years’ experience across Investment Management and Corporate Finance; with previous roles at PIMCO and Just Group. Chris has a Masters’ degree in physics from Oxford University

Colin joined Compre Group in 2023 as Group CIO. He focuses on supporting the business through designing and implementing capital efficient investment strategies whilst providing strategic advice to management and stakeholders on regulatory, business and operational challenges as they relate to investments.

With 40 years experience in asset management for the P&C and Life markets Colin has held senior positions with Mercer, Schroders and Friends Life as well as leading insurance at BlackRock and Fidelity. A keen cyclist, Colin is also a Trustee of ADMST and an ambassador for GAIN.

AuM of $1.6Bn

David is Group ALM & Treasury Director at Aviva, with responsibility for the plc Treasury function and strategic asset allocation, asset liability management and hedging across the business. David has over 20 years’ experience in investment, risk, finance and capital within financial services across investment banking, pensions, insurance and reinsurance.

He is an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Institute of Risk Management and a Director of Aviva Capital Partners which invests in regeneration and infrastructure projects in the UK. David holds a DPhil in applied mathematics from Oxford University and served as a visiting research fellow at OCIAM.

Grigory Spivak joined Pacific Life Re in 2019 as a head of Investment Strategy & ALM within the newly formed Global Funded Solutions division. The first funded reinsurance transaction was signed in 2021. Grigory’s team has a broad range of responsibilities, including ALM, setting investment strategy for pricing new business and overseeing the execution of the transactions.

Prior to this, he headed Investment Risk function in the Legal & General Retirement responsible for 2nd line oversight of assets backing L&G annuity business. Before that, Grigory was with BlackRock managing their life insurance funds range – the flagship vehicle for BlackRock’s passive funds offering for the UK pensions clients. Grigory has a Masters in Applied Mathematics and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.

Guillermo Donadini, an Independent Consultant, has amassed over three decades of experience in the realm of global investment and asset management. His expertise is particularly notable in the sectors of life, pension, and general insurance portfolios, where he has dedicated a significant part of his career.

As the Global Chief Investment Officer for General Insurance at American International Group (AIG), Guillermo managed extensive investment portfolios and was responsible for strategic asset allocations across North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific . His position required him to shape corporate strategies and strengthen governance frameworks.

Guillermo is also a strong advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, actively participating in Employee Resource Groups and promoting an inclusive workplace environment. Beyond his professional pursuits, he mentors young individuals via Career Ready and holds a position on the Board of Trustees for Independent Age, reflecting his dedication to community and social responsibility.

After obtaining a Master´s degree in in Business Administration and completing his Ph.D. thesis in Financial Economics at the University of Muenster, Lutz Hahnenstein began his professional career in 2002 at IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, where he worked as a Senior Risk Management Analyst until 2005. From 2006 to 2007, he served as the Project Management Lead "Basel II" and from 2007 to 2009 as Team Head of Financial Controlling at the same company. In 2009, Lutz started at WGZ BANK AG as the Head of Credit Risk Control Department, where he remained until 2016.

In 2016, he joined Talanx, serving as the Head of Risk Control Department at Talanx Asset Management GmbH until 2018, which was rebranded to Ampega Asset Management GmbH in 2019. Total AuM of Ampega Asset Management is 169 bn EUR (Talanx 175 bn EUR).

Michela joined Phoenix Asset Management as Chief Credit Officer in May 2021. In this role, Michela is leading the Credit Research and Ratings team for all asset strategies pursued by Phoenix Group, which have capabilities to assign internal ratings to private credit and illiquid assets in an approach consistent with industry peers and adhere to regulatory requirements. Michela joined Phoenix from Pension Insurance Corporation where she served as Head of Ratings and Credit Research.

Prior to that, Michela spent 14 years at S&P Global Ratings, London, most recently as Senior Director, Infrastructure Ratings – EMEA Analytical Head, managing a team of 20 analysts and a portfolio of over 150 issuers in the infrastructure sector. The portfolio included corporate and project finance transactions covering social infrastructure, road, transport and renewables. Michela started her career at Goldman Sachs within the Equities Division. She holds a DEA en Analyse et Politique Economique (Master in Economics) from EHESS, Paris and a Specialization in Finance as a Ph.D. candidate from HEC, Paris.

Nenna is Head of Investment Strategy for Just Group, a specialist provider of retirement income products and services in the UK. Nenna is responsible for the investment strategy of £15bn of balance sheet assets, including the strategic asset allocation and investment evaluation of private credit assets.

Previously, Nenna worked for Investment Consultancy, Mercer, with roles in fixed income manager research and fiduciary management. Nenna has a PhD in Mathematics from University College London, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Roshan is an experienced FTSE100 risk director and investment actuary with experience across technical actuarial, risk and investment roles. 

He has previously lead St James's Place Prudential Risk team, plus served as Phoenix Group’s Financial Risk Director and Legal & General’s Head of ALM, leading the oversight of capital management, insurance and investment risk, covering both liquid and illiquid credit portfolios. He has also held responsibility for internal model validation, including integration of Phoenix’s and Standard Life’s internal models, one of the first such combinations in the UK market.

Roshan has also had extensive experience advising defined benefit pension Trustees on all aspects of their investment strategy, including asset allocation and fund manager selection.

Ying is Chief Investment Officer of Allianz Insurance plc. Before moving to London in 2015, she was the chief investment manager at Allianz Investment Management in Munich, responsible initially for the investment strategies of group companies in Central & Eastern Europe and subsequently for the UK, Ireland and Australia.

Ying joined Allianz Group’s investment management arm in Singapore in 2009, where she worked as a fixed income analyst with a focus on China macro research and supervised investments of insurance assets in China, Singapore and Japan. She has an Msc in Management from Lancaster University.