FBC Annual Members’ Conference on the 29th of November, 2022 for a 2pm start
Our Fund Boards Council (FBC) Annual Members’ Conference, kindly being hosted at the offices of FBC corporate member, Schroders, will include a keynote and Q&A with the FCA’s Nike Trost, followed by two main sessions:
Session One
Assessment of Value: A Three-Year Review
Led by FBC Senior Adviser Brandon Horwitz, this session will present highlights from FBC’s ongoing review of the implementation of Assessment of Value. FCA’s Garry Murdoch will share the regulator’s latest thinking on the subject and FBC’s Philip Warland will moderate a panel discussion of your peers, including James Rainbow, Schroders Unit Trust Ltd.’s Chair, and investor insight and fund governance expert, Dawn Hyams.
Session Two
Consumer Duty: Implications for AFMs and fund boards
A key policy intervention with implications across the financial services industry, this important discussion will be led by FBC Senior Adviser Simon Hynes with a particular focus on its impact on fund managers and their boards. He will be joined by the FCA’s Michael Collins, Anna O’Donoghue, Global Head of Product Governance and fund board executive director at Schroders, Heather Hopkins, fund board NED and runs consultancy NextWealth, and Tim Sargisson, former CEO of Sandringham Financial Partners.
Contributors
Nike has 17 years regulatory experience gained from working across the FCA, including in heading the asset management supervision, capital market policy roles, oversight of primary capital markets transactions and heading the FCA’s prospectus approval function.
Garry is a Technical Specialist within FCA’s Asset Management Supervision Department. During his time with the FCA (and with the FSA previously), he has played a key role in a number of regulatory initiatives including FSA’s 2012 Dear CEO letter on conflicts of interests, research unbundling, host AFMs, and the AMMS and its remedies. He is leading FCA’s supervision work in relation to firms’ roll out of Assessments of Value.Before joining the regulator, Garry trained as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte Haskins and Sells before working in senior compliance roles for leading asset managers including Robert Fleming and AllianceBernstein.
Michael Collins is a Technical Specialist in the Asset Management and Funds Policy team at the FCA. He has worked at the FCA since 2010, leading and providing expert support to a wide range of asset management and funds-related projects, including sustainable finance disclosures, the development of the Long-Term Asset Fund, and the FCA’s asset management market study. Most recently he has been working on supporting the FCA’s central Consumer Duty team on the implications for the fund and asset management sectors, alongside thinking about how the UK regime for asset management might evolve. Prior to joining the FCA he worked as an investment analyst and fund manager.
James Rainbow is Head of UK Distribution and Latin America. He joined Schroders in 2007 and is based in London. He has 24 years of industry experience. Prior to taking his current role at the end of 2019, James was CEO of Schroders Personal Wealth, our joint venture with Lloyds Banking Group.
Previous roles include Co-Head of UK Intermediary and Head of UK Financial Institutions and Strategic Accounts. James is Chairman of Schroder Unit Trusts also serves as a non-executive Director of Benchmark Capital.
By providing a clear focus on strategy, operations, and business development, Sandringham grew to £3 billion of AUA while supporting 185 financial advisers to help clients achieve their financial goals, financial security and peace of mind.
In 2022 Sandringham finalised a sale of the business to M&G Wealth as M&G Wealth’s independent advice business to complement their existing restricted and hybrid firms. Tim stepped down as CEO after concluding the sale.
From 2013 – 2014, as CEO of National IFA IFG Financial Services. He oversaw the firm’s sale to Ascot Lloyd.
From 2009 – 2013 he served as Managing Director at James Hay Partnership – a platform for retirement wealth planning and one of the UK’s most significant Self Invested Personal Pensions providers. He was appointed CEO of this business immediately following the acquisition of the James Hay business from Santander in 2010. During his time, he led the drive to rehabilitate the company in the eyes of James Hay’s key distribution channel, the IFA.
His career at the IFG Group spanned 12 years, having joined the Group in 2002 as Managing Director of London firm Pensions Associates Limited. He oversaw its merger with Manchester-based Santhouse Whittington Actuarial Services and Bristol-based IPS Pensions to form the PAL Partnership.
From 1989 – 2001 he served as Marketing Director at SWIPE Plc (Smith and Williamson Interactive Pensions Exchange) and as a financial adviser and director at national IFA Lucas Fettes and Partners.
She is responsible for the management of Schroders’ product ranges globally and safeguarding the best interests of Schroders’ investors throughout the product lifecycle. Anna is also a Director on the Schroders Unit Trusts Ltd (SUTL) Board in the UK. She joined Schroders in March 2019 and is based in London.
Prior to joining Schroders Anna was at Architas Limited, where she spent ten years working in senior roles, including Head of Research and Investment Chief Operating Officer, and played an integral role in many of Architas’ investment projects. In her most recent role Anna oversaw the day-to-day operations of the investment team, with responsibility for investment and operational due diligence, product governance, and regulatory change initiatives.
Previously, she held Senior Investment Analyst positions at BMO Global Asset Management and FundQuest – the multi-manager of BNP Paribas Investment Providers.
Anna holds an MBA (with distinction) from Warwick University, a BA Broadcast Journalism from Leeds University. She also holds the IMC and has passed Level I of the CFA.
In a career spanning Toronto, Boston, Tokyo and London, Heather Hopkins is a data and research expert specialising in the UK financial adviser and retail wealth management markets. Heather is the Managing Director and Founder of NextWealth. She is also on the board of the Mercantile Investment Trust and Orbis Investments UK.
Outside of work, she spends time with her family and tries not to dunk into the river Thames as she learns to scull.
Philip Warland spent the first part of his career in the Bank of England. He was the Governor’s Private Secretary, Adviser on Oil and Energy and Chief Press Officer amongst other roles. After a brief time with Standard Chartered the rest of his career has been in asset management. First as head of the trade association, now the IA. Then with PWC, and a head-hunter Halsey, and finally with Fidelity where he was Head of Public Policy. Currently, he is a part time adviser to a Brussels based policy consultant, Kreab. He also was the founding chairman of the Oasis Trust which, amongst other things manages fifty-two City Academies and works in eleven countries worldwide.
Brandon is a Senior Adviser and non-executive director at FBC and is involved with FBC’s consultancy and thought-leadership work, with a focus on product governance, assessment of value and investment governance, including oversight of sustainable investments.
He is also a qualified actuary and Principal Consultant at NomBon Consulting, a boutique management consultancy focused on helping firms to design, manage and distribute regulated products and advice services which deliver good outcomes for retail customers.
Brandon also chairs the Appointments Committee of the Financial Reporting Council’s Tribunal Panel and has experience as a Non-Executive Director of organisations regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), The Pension Regulator (TPR) and the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC).
Simon joined the Fund Boards Council as a Senior Adviser in January 2022 to work on the Distributor oversight and Product governance initiatives. He has extensive UK & European Investment Management distribution experience with leadership and board roles at Jupiter and Legal & General Investment Management.
His UK AFM board experience saw detailed involvement in Assessment of Value, PROD and other regulatory initiatives. He also built LGIM’s Retail sales presence in Europe and was integral to the development of its ETF business. This gave a fascinating insight into the work of European fund regulators and increased his latent enthusiasm for sharing best practice in fund governance.
Since 2020 Simon has also served as a non executive director for NedGroup Investments.
