AGENDA

Ali Karakuyu is a seasoned expert with 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, working in BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking’s (CIB) Insurance Debt Advisory team. Ali is part of the broader Advisory division under BBVA’s CIB Investment Banking & Finance business covering a broad range of (re)insurance companies across Europe and Bermuda.

At BBVA (CIB) Ali helps (re)insurers to optimise their capital structure and funding solutions keeping in mind the expectations of regulators, shareholders, ratings agencies and other key stakeholders. 

Previously, Ali held a key role at S&P Global Ratings in the UK as Director and Lead Analyst in the insurance practice, where he was the global analytical lead for the firm’s insurance capital model criteria and contributed significantly to the development of  insurance rating methodologies. Prior to that Ali held various actuarial roles including the U.K. Government Actuary’s Department.

Kay Reinhold works in Group Treasury & Capital Management at Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), where he is responsible for leading the development of the Group’s capital management framework. With almost two decades of experience in insurance risk and treasury functions and a strong background in actuarial and financial mathematics, he focuses on capital allocation, liquidity planning, and its alignment with internal and external requirements. Kay is a certified actuary (DAV) and a member of the German Society for Insurance and Financial Mathematics (DGVFM). He holds a Diplom in Business Mathematics from the University of Ulm and a Master of Science in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin. Prior to joining VIG in 2010, he worked in management consulting for the insurance sector.

William Arrata is an Asset & Liability Manager at Banque de France’s Financial Directorate. He is in charge of devising optimal investment strategies, in EURO and currencies, for Banque de France non monetary policy investment portfolios. Before that, he worked at the Reserves Management Division, actively managing an AFS portfolio of bonds, money market securities and fixed income derivatives. He also started the Quantitative Easing Programme for Banque de France. He has been teaching for more than 10 years Quantitative Portfolio Management at ESSEC Business school’s Master in Finance in France, and he occasionally publishes on topics related to monetary policy in the euro area. He is an Associate Actuary and CFA Charterholder.

Andrew Putwain is the Managing Editor of Clear Path Analysis’s two market website Insurance-Investor.com and FundOperator.com. He joined the company in early 2022, and prior to that was an oil market journalist for I.C.I.S, part of Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions Group, focusing on the Middle Eastern/North Africa and CIS regions. Other previous roles include Editor at Reactions, part of Euromoney, and on the editorial team at Axco Insurance Information Services. He has also had positions at NS Media, HennikGroup, The Institute of Civil Engineers Publishing and ESG Investor

Drew Price is the Head of Capital Reporting & Analytics at Swiss Re, where he oversees all aspects of capital reporting for the group. With over three decades of experience in the financial sector, Drew has led teams in developing and implementing advanced financial systems, improving control environments, and accounting for complex transactions. His recent work includes designing a comprehensive application for collecting and managing capital positions.

Dipesh is an experienced manager that focuses on solutions spanning multiple investment products. He is the primary Fund Manager of the M&G (Lux) Sterling Liquidity Fund and also provides liquidity and short term funding solutions and advice to internal clients on physical credit. Dipesh also covers various aspects of foreign exchange, cash and collateral and has previous experience of market execution. Dipesh joined the business in 2005 as a graduate and has been with the team since 2010. He is a CFA Charterholder.

Matthew joined M&G Investments in September 2006 on the Fixed Income graduate rotation program and began working on the ABS portfolio management desk in September 2007. 
Matthew is the primary portfolio manager on the team’s flagship pooled high grade fund as well as a number of other segregated mandates and funds in the investment grade ABS space and also supports other members of the team on non-investment grade portfolios.
Matthew has a BSc in Economics from the University of York and is a CFA Charterholder.

Chris is a senior advisor to AlphaReal, the secure income asset manager and also a consultant to a number of UK infrastructure and social housing investors. He was previously Head of Illiquid Assets Origination at Phoenix Group plc, before that Head of Market Risk, Credit at Swiss Reinsurance (where he was also CIO and trustee of the UK Pension Fund) and a credit portfolio manager at Legal & General, Old Mutual Asset Managers and Allied Irish Banks. 

Chris is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and a fellow of the London Institute of Banking & Finance. He is Chair of Sporting Wellness, a charity that supports young sportsmen and sportswomen across the UK.

Hua Chai is an Investment Manager on the Alternative Investment Solutions team at Aberdeen Investments. He leads Systematic Solutions and is a portfolio manager for the Aberdeen Investments Eclipse hedge fund index range. Prior to joining Aberdeen Investments in 2019, Chai worked as a quantitative trader and analyst at a London-based quantitative hedge fund.  Chai has a BSc in Mathematics and an MSc in Finance from the University of Bath, and a Masters in Finance from the London Business School. He is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).

Maria's expertise includes implementing resilient investment programs, fund manager selection and the application of global best practice standards. She is also recognized as an ESG, investment governance and digital assets due diligence specialist.

Prior to her role as Research and Content Director at SBAI, where Maria lobbied global regulators on emerging regulation and was responsible for authoring a number of industry white papers, Maria has held senior positions with Man FRM, as both Head of Middle Office Accounting and as an Operational Due Diligence specialist. Other roles include Accounting Operations Manager at Northern Trust, as well as investment operations positions with Unigestion and Thames River Capital hedge funds, where she was responsible for trade execution, valuations and client reporting.

As a member of the SBAI's Working Groups on Digital Assets and Responsible Investment, Maria actively engages in shaping industry standards. Her academic background includes a first-class Bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences (Astronomy and Cosmology). Maria is a frequent panellist and speaker at financial services forums, showcasing her thought leadership.

Sonia Alonso is a transformation-focused investment operations leader with over 15 years’ experience across insurance, asset management, and commercial banking. At Convex Insurance, she oversees a $6bn+ portfolio and leads strategic initiatives in data, compliance, and operational efficiency, having joined from RBC Global Asset Management (UK), where she served as Head of Investment Operations. Sonia is recognised for her innovative approach to operational excellence and her thought leadership in investment operations transformation.
She holds dual BAs in Business Administration and Management (Universidad de Burgos, Spain) and in Political Sciences (UNED, Spain). Sonia is also certified by CFA UK with the Impact Investment and Climate & Investing Certificates, holds the CFA Institute’s Certificate in Sustainable Investing, and the CISI Investment Operations Certificate (IOC), demonstrating her strong commitment to professional development in the investment operations field.

Lauren McDermott is a Director within Insurance Solutions at Loomis, Sayles & Company, where she is responsible for business development and relationship management with insurance companies in the United States, the Bermuda offshore markets and EMEA region. She joined Loomis Sayles in 2022 and has 18 years of investment industry experience. Prior to Loomis Sayles, Lauren held a number of positions that drove third party insurance asset growth. Most recently, Lauren was director of insurance client solutions at Aviva Investors, where she developed new business within the insurance and hospital/healthcare markets. Previously, Lauren was at Brown Brothers Harriman, as the head of Business Development and led their strategic efforts, with an emphasis on growth within the insurance market. Prior to that, she was a director within Global Business Development at Barings. In that position, she served as a key member of the insurance team responsible for building and expanding a broader set of capabilities to serve their growing client base across life, property & casualty, health and re-insurers. Lauren began her career on the sell-side in fixed income sales for Bear Stearns. She earned a BS from Georgetown University.

Andrew Putwain is the Managing Editor of Clear Path Analysis’s two market website Insurance-Investor.com and FundOperator.com. He joined the company in early 2022, and prior to that was an oil market journalist for I.C.I.S, part of Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions Group, focusing on the Middle Eastern/North Africa and CIS regions. Other previous roles include Editor at Reactions, part of Euromoney, and on the editorial team at Axco Insurance Information Services. He has also had positions at NS Media, HennikGroup, The Institute of Civil Engineers Publishing and ESG Investor

I’m Alex, the Treasury Dealer at Bupa, where I’ve been working for 6 years now. I’m a chartered accountant for the Institute of Chartered Accounts of England & Wales, and recently passed the CFA Level 1 exam. My knowledge of the company over the years has led to me being involved in all aspects of Treasury from our segregated mandates, to actuarial analysis of our risk appetites, all the way to our Accounting for investments, intercompany arrangements, and FX hedging portfolio.

Maria's expertise includes implementing resilient investment programs, fund manager selection and the application of global best practice standards. She is also recognized as an ESG, investment governance and digital assets due diligence specialist.

Prior to her role as Research and Content Director at SBAI, where Maria lobbied global regulators on emerging regulation and was responsible for authoring a number of industry white papers, Maria has held senior positions with Man FRM, as both Head of Middle Office Accounting and as an Operational Due Diligence specialist. Other roles include Accounting Operations Manager at Northern Trust, as well as investment operations positions with Unigestion and Thames River Capital hedge funds, where she was responsible for trade execution, valuations and client reporting.

As a member of the SBAI's Working Groups on Digital Assets and Responsible Investment, Maria actively engages in shaping industry standards. Her academic background includes a first-class Bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences (Astronomy and Cosmology). Maria is a frequent panellist and speaker at financial services forums, showcasing her thought leadership.

Andrew Putwain is the Managing Editor of Clear Path Analysis’s two market website Insurance-Investor.com and FundOperator.com. He joined the company in early 2022, and prior to that was an oil market journalist for I.C.I.S, part of Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions Group, focusing on the Middle Eastern/North Africa and CIS regions. Other previous roles include Editor at Reactions, part of Euromoney, and on the editorial team at Axco Insurance Information Services. He has also had positions at NS Media, HennikGroup, The Institute of Civil Engineers Publishing and ESG Investor

Bob Tyley is Head of Credit Risk in Hymans Robertson’s UK Insurance & Financial Services practice. He is an investment industry veteran with deep experience of global credit and interest rate markets. Having worked in the leading investment banks, insurance companies and consultancies, he has wide experience of implementing ESG, ALM, SAA, and IMV activities along with risk and capital modelling and optimisation for insurance companies.

 An area of particular focus currently is the impact of Solvency II UK Reform and its implications and challenges in enabling insurers to invest in a wider range of long-term productive assets.

 Bob is a Technical Specialist of the Institute of Risk Management and a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, as well as being a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Fearghas provides support for a range of general insurance clients, with a focus on capital modelling, internal model validation, model use, and insurance strategy.
He has over ten years’ experience in capital modelling for general insurance and has worked on internal model development and approval, and major model change applications with both PRA and Lloyd’s. 
Fearghas brings expertise in embedding capital modelling techniques to wider risk management and business decision making processes, and in explaining technical and statistical information to senior stakeholders. 
He also works directly with Insureds, advising on insurance and risk mitigation strategies and leading work with captive insurers.