PIMFA Talent, Diversity and Inclusion (TDI) Conference 2022

Liz joined PIMFA (then known as the Wealth Management Association) as Chief Executive in 2014.

She has 30 years financial services experience, 19 of which as a Chief Executive. She successfully transformed and advised several businesses through redefining strategy, re-branding, change management and inspirational leadership, creating profitable businesses.

She has substantive experience of people and corporate culture risk, regulatory knowhow across the industry – banking, insurance and wealth management and providing good practice guidelines for the industry to adopt.

She is an accredited coach and industry leader encouraging collaborative participation of diverse groups of industry experts to address sector challenges and to leverage industry resources for collective benefit.

Liz holds a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Occupational Psychology from Birkbeck.

Bev is the founder and Chief Executive of City Hive. Frustrated by the lack of diversity within financial services, Shah founded the industry body, City Hive in 2016 to challenge the investment and asset management industry and be a force of positive change. A trailblazer, Shah is passionate about engaging with, educating, challenging and holding the sector accountable to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive.

Prior to founding City Hive, Shah was Senior Multi Manager Analyst and a member of the Aviva Investors Multi Asset team, which managed £89 billion of assets at the time. Previously, Shah held the role Investment Funds Manager at Aviva, responsible for developing and managing the process for Investment Governance of External Funds for Aviva UK Life and International. Shah has also held Analyst roles with HSBC Investments and Merchant Securities Ltd. Shah spent her investment career analysing fund managers in the asset management industry across all asset classes, conducting due diligence on 1000s of funds. This gave her a unique insight into the broader corporate culture of the investment management industry and catalysed her passion for holding firms to account for there ESG responsibilities.

A champion for greater diversity and inclusion, Shah collaborates regularly with the Diversity Project and Women in Banking and Finance.
Shah is on the Court of the Guild of Investment Managers and has been awarded Freedom to the City of London.

Danish-born Nemo D’Qrill (they/them) is a polymath academic (PhD) who has won debates with Nobel prize-winners in economics, was an invited speaker at the World Congress of Philosophy in Beijing, was in the Olympic selection process for Judo, worked as professional flautist for the Danish Queen, debated immigration policies with ministers, and fought with fencing masters across Japan.

As a DEI speaker Nemo’s tagline is “Stop talking about diversity, start using it!”. The competitive edge that great culture and DEI maturity brings is sometimes achieved by just throwing diverse people into the same room. But that is like being a chef who can only throw all ingredients into a pot and boil them at the same time. “Harnessing the power of differences” is where the true DEI opportunity lies. Nemo currently heads up a research cluster on Gender and Sexuality for a conglomerate of 7 universities in the UK, is writing a book on gender and runs Sigma Polaris, an AI-driven talent screening start-up which removes bias from the early stages of recruitment.

Charlie is a Senior HR & Reward Manager at LGT Wealth Management and has worked within financial services for 10 years. Sitting on LGT’s #included (D&I) committee, many of Charlie’s key focuses is to enhance the Firm’s culture, specifically in relation to diversity and inclusion, employer brand and social impact. Charlie leads on the firms Gender workstream, expanding our diversity data reporting capabilities and driving strategic change from a cultural and inclusion position.

Kate joined the Strategic Accounts team at Fidelity Adviser Solutions in 2019. She is responsible for relationships with key intermediary and advisory groups. Alongside this, Kate has been involved in a number of initiatives supporting Fidelity’s ongoing commitment to Diversity and Inclusion, helping to foster an inclusive culture, with a particular focus on Sales. Kate has over 16 years’ experience in retail and workplace platform sales and holds an Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning.

Alexander Smith is head of strategic and cross-cutting policy at the FCA and is responsible for the FCA’s cross-cutting policy initiatives including sustainable finance, operational resilience, senior managers and certification regime and prudential policy.  Alexander joined the FCA from the Association of British Insurers in 2011.  During his time at the FCA, he has led a range of projects including in relation to retail investment distribution, pension freedoms and firm culture.

Liz joined PIMFA (then known as the Wealth Management Association) as Chief Executive in 2014.

She has 30 years financial services experience, 19 of which as a Chief Executive. She successfully transformed and advised several businesses through redefining strategy, re-branding, change management and inspirational leadership, creating profitable businesses.

She has substantive experience of people and corporate culture risk, regulatory knowhow across the industry – banking, insurance and wealth management and providing good practice guidelines for the industry to adopt.

She is an accredited coach and industry leader encouraging collaborative participation of diverse groups of industry experts to address sector challenges and to leverage industry resources for collective benefit.

Liz holds a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Occupational Psychology from Birkbeck.