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External speakers   Philippe Desfossés Bruno de Saint Florent Patrick Dixon Antoine de Salins     Mercer speakers   Andy Barber Ben Gunnee Thierry Brevet Emma Hunt Paul Cavalier Andrew Kirton Odette Césari   Crispin Lace Anne Choné   Julian Mant Debbie Clarke Jeff Schutes Frédéric Debaere Nick Sykes Dennis van Ek Alex Thompson Simon Fox Stephen Williams   Tom Geraghty

Andy Barber

Global investment leader - manager research

Andy is the global investment leader - manager research, a unit within Mercer’s Investment Consulting Business. Based in London, Andy has responsibility for primary research on investment managers across various investment strategies. Andy chairs our UK ratings review committee.

Andy has more than 20 years of experience within the pensions and investment industry. Prior to joining Mercer in 1984, he spent two years with Tate & Lyle as a futures trader.

Andy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and economic history from Leicester University.

Thierry Brevet

Mercer principal

Thierry joined Mercer at the beginning of 2002. He is a European Partner and Country Head of Mercer Investment Consulting in France. He also works closely with Mercer Human Resource Consulting's Retirement and PMR businesses.

Thierry has participated in several projects for private companies, public entities, retirement institutions and insurance companies in various areas of portfolio management such as asset allocation, manager selection, risk and performance monitoring.

Before joining Mercer IC, Thierry Brevet worked for a bank and an insurance company, on all issues related to investment and asset management.

Thierry started his career in 1983 at Société Générale as an auditor and then as the manager of a trading desk. In 1988, Thierry joined AXA as Treasurer before holding several finance specialist senior positions in asset management, and then in the insurance operations. Before leaving for Mercer, Thierry was CFO of AXA Collectives.

Thierry holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from ESC Lyon.

Paul Cavalier

Global business and investment leader for Mercer's bond boutique

Paul is global business and investment leader for Mercer's bond boutique. Paul is a member of the International, UK and the European Manager Ratings Review Committees.

Paul has more than 25 years of experience within the investment management industry. Prior to joining Mercer, he was global head of fixed income portfolio management at Lombard Odier Darrier Hentsch. Paul spent 16 years of his career at LODH in a number of roles ranging from head of the tactical asset allocation team to head of UK portfolio management. His responsibilities were very diverse and encompassed strategic asset allocation, trading, portfolio management, client servicing and marketing. Prior to this Paul had brief tenures at Saudi International Bank, as an investment manager and at National Westminster Bank plc working within the currency accounts department.

Odette Césari

CIO of AXA France

Biography pending

Anne Choné

Mercer principal

Anne Choné is a principal in Mercer’s investment business in Paris, where she is responsible for advising clients on a large range of issues pertaining to asset manager selection and investment solutions implementation. In addition, Anne works closely with Mercer’s manager research team based in London and is in charge of researching local traditional and fund of hedge fund managers.

Anne has more than 13 years of experience in the asset management industry. She started her career in 1995 with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young. She then worked for seven years for FitchRatings as a director in the asset management division. Within FitchRatings, Anne was responsible for the qualitative rating of many asset management organisations in Europe, including France, Germany, Switzerland and the UK.

Anne graduated from Rouen Business School and is a CFA charterholder. She joined Mercer Investment Consulting in July 2007.

Debbie Clarke

Global business and investment leader for Mercer's equity boutique

Debbie is a global business and investment leader for Mercer's equity boutique with the manager research team, a unit within Mercer's investment consulting business. Based in London she specialises in researching Global and Global Emerging Market equity managers and chairs the International Ratings Review Committee.

Debbie joined Mercer in November 2005 from Watson Wyatt, where she was a senior investment consultant, advising a range of clients and researching Asian and Emerging Market equity managers. Prior to this Debbie was a fund manager for 20 years, latterly working for Friends Ivory and Sime as Head of Equities.

Debbie has a BA (Hons) in business studies from Plymouth University and is an Associate of the Society of Investment Professionals.

Frédric Debaere

Mercer principal

Frédéric is a principal in Mercer's investment consulting business. Located in Paris, he is involved in advising clients on a wide range of issues, including asset-liability modelling and asset mix decisions. Frédéric also has specific manager research responsibilities.

Frédéric has ten years of experience within the banking and investment industry. Prior to joining Mercer, he worked for CDC IXIS Asset Management as a portfolio strategist. Before this, he worked for Crédit Lyonnais, on various activities, and as a portfolio manager in the asset management subsidiary.

Frédéric graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and is a CFA charterholder.

Philippe Desfossés

Chief Executive Officer of ERAFP (French Public Service Additional Pension Scheme)

By a decree published on June 11, Mr Philippe Desfossés has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of ERAFP, the French Public Service Additional Pension Scheme.

Mr Desfossés is a graduate of Sciences Po in Paris and the French National School of Administration.

He started his career at the French Treasury (Ministry of Economy and Finance) in 1985, successively as Deputy Head of the Enterprise Financing Desk, Deputy Head of the Sub-saharan Africa Desk, Financial Attaché in New York (1989-1992) and Head of the Insurance Desk (1992-1995).

From 1995 to 1997, he was Special advisor to Mr Jacques Barrot, the French Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, in charge of the Employment, Family, Retirement and Old Age portfolios.

In 1998, he joined AXA Group as Senior Manager and became CEO of two subsidiaries: International Finance Futures and Compagnie Financière de Paris. From 2006, Mr Desfossés was Director of Corporate Affairs & Business Development and member of the Executive Committee of Lilly France.

Patrick Dixon

Futurist

Futurist: Manage risk and seize opportunity - future trends and strategy

Dynamic speaker with a gift for helping organisations further their strategic goals by understanding future trends. Truly customised presentations - deep and tailored research, valuable insights, exciting multi-media. Ranked as one of the world's most influential business thinkers alive by Thinkers 50. Successful entrepreneur.

Author, "Futurewise" and "Building a better business"

Bruno de Saint-Florent

Partner, Oliver Wyman

Bruno de Saint-Florent is a Partner at Oliver Wyman. He is a a senior member of the Corporate and Institutional Banking and Wealth and Asset management  Domains. He has 15 years of consulting experience.   Bruno de Saint-Florent has worked on a broad range of projects in Corporate and Investment Banking as well as in Wealth and Asset Management. Example of recent projects he has led include:   Asset management strategy development for a Leading European banking group with significant AM and CIB Divisions Client analysis and institutional development plan for a leading quantitative asset manager European Asset Management strategy and implementation including supporting set up build up in Italy and Germany for institutional and distribution markets  Asset management-CIB JV set-up for a leading European bank European Retail Distributors strategy for the Equity Derivatives Division of a leading French Bank  Acquisition due diligence for a large European Asset Manager Post Merger Integration for a US asset Manager European Institutional market scan for a leading securities services provider Asset management growth initiative for a major specialised player   Prior to joining Oliver Wyman, Bruno de Saint-Florent was a Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group where he led their European Corporate banking practice. Previously he worked with Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) and with Paribas (now BNP Paribas).   Bruno de Saint-Florent graduated from Edhec Business School and from the London School of Economics. He also holds an MBA from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania).

Antoine de Salins

CEO of French Pension Reserve Fund  

Since 2003, Executive Director and Chairman of the asset managers selection Committee of the “Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (French Pension Reserve Fund) which net asset value is 28 billion Euros.

Between 1986 and 2002: various positions within The French Treasury (privatisations department, financial markets supervision department, financial attaché in Brussels, private secretary of the Head of The Treasury, head of the department responsible with monetary affairs and public debt management, deputy head of the Treasury in charge of microeconomic issues, Financial counsellor at the French Permanent Representation to the European Union).

Graduated from Institute of Political Studies (Paris) and the National School of Administration (ENA).

Dennis van Ek

Mercer principal

Dennis is a principal in the Amstelveen office in Holland. He advises Boards and Investment Committees of pension funds, providing ALM studies and asset consulting. He is responsible for developing economic assumptions, which are basis for ALM studies and Eurozone IAS/FAS calculations.

Dennis started his career in 1995, and joined Mercer in 2001. He has taught investment courses to students who endeavour to become actuaries.

Dennis earned the masters degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Twente, and graduated in 1995 on an optimization model for selection of investment managers. He completed the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program in 2001 and he became an actuary (AAG) in 2002. He is a member of both the CFA Institute and of the Dutch Society of Actuaries.

Simon Fox

Mercer principal

Simon is a principal within Mercer's Investment Consulting business. Located in London, he is responsible for advising institutional investors on the full range of investment consulting issues including investment strategy and structure, manager selection, and performance monitoring. In addition Simon has a number of responsibilities with regards to manager research and is a member of Mercer's European Hedge Fund Research Group and Commodity Research Group.

Prior to joining Mercer in early 2003, Simon was Researcher to Theresa May MP in the House of Commons.

Simon has a degree in mathematics from Oxford University and a Masters in European politics and policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and has also completed the IMC exam.

Tom Geraghty

European Head of Mercer’s Investment Consulting Business

Tom leads Mercer’s European Investment Consulting Business. He is a Worldwide Partner and advises indigenous and multinational institutional pension funds, both DC as well as DB, on all aspects of their investment arrangements.

Prior to joining Mercer, Tom was a vice president within a leading institutional asset management business in the US.

Tom is a member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute. He has a Masters degree in Business from Dublin City University Business School and also an undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance from that same university.

Ben Gunnee

European director of Mercer Sentinel Group

Ben is European Director of Mercer Sentinel Group, based in London. The Mercer Sentinel Group focuses on advising clients in the fields of Plan governance and execution, custodian reviews, investment manager operational assessments and transition operations.

Ben’s specialist area within the group is asset transitions where he is responsible for leading Mercer’s asset transition operations within Europe and is a member of the global transition manager research team.

Prior to joining Mercer’s in 2002, Ben worked on the pension review for the Financial Services Authority and a major Life Assurance Company. Overall, he has over 9 years experience in the pensions market.

Ben graduated from Leicester Business School in 1997 with a Masters Degree in Accounting and Finance and prior to this he studied Accounting and Financial Management at the University of Buckingham, graduating with First Class Honours.

Ben is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.

Emma Hunt

European head of Mercer's Responsible Investment

Emma Hunt is a principal in Mercer's Investment Consulting business in London. She supports UK and European clients on issues relating to responsible investment (RI) and shareholder engagement.

Emma joined Mercer in June 2005. Prior to this, she spent two years heading up the Centre for Sustainable Investment at Forum for the Future, a UK-based think tank. Previously, Emma spent four years as a senior analyst focused on governance and socially responsible investment with a UK-based global asset manager. Emma has authored numerous articles on RI; developed and delivered modules on sustainable investment for academic institutions, professional institutes and financial institutions; and sits on a number of advisory committees, including the UK Social Investment Forum's Sustainable Pensions Advisory Board.

Emma holds the Investment Management Certificate, a Masters in Environmental Technology from Imperial College, London, a Bachelor's degree in European Business from Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, and a Diploma in International Business from École Supèrieure de Commerce in France.

Andrew Kirton

Global head of Mercer’s investment consulting business

Andrew leads Mercer’s Global Investment Consulting Business. He is a member of Mercer's Global Operating Committee and the Investment Consulting Leadership Team for investment consulting.

Andrew joined Mercer in 1998 from a competitor and has over 20 years of experience in the investment industry. He is extensively involved in advising clients in addition to his leadership responsibilities.

Andrew has a bachelor’s degree in industrial economics from Nottingham University and is a qualified investment analyst. He is a member of the National Association of Pension Funds Investment Council. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Crispin Lace

Mercer principal

Crispin is a principal within Mercer’s Investment Consulting Business, where he is responsible for providing investment advice to a portfolio of institutional clients. He also sits on a number of internal groups with specific responsibilities both for developing Mercer’s intellectual capital around strategic asset allocation and for creating a decision making framework that enables our global investment consultants to advise clients on allocating capital to new investment opportunities.

Crispin has over 21 years of experience in investment consulting having started his career with the Wyatt Company in 1987 and subsequently transferring to Watson Wyatt when the two companies merged. He was responsible for Watson Wyatt’s investment consulting businesses in Scandinavia and subsequently Germany before returning to the UK in 2006. On his return he was head of Watson Wyatt’s investment consulting business to DC schemes with a particular focus on the provision of advice on integrated funding strategies, the analysis and development of investment manager combinations to optimise investment efficiency and the selection and ongoing review of investment managers.

Crispin graduated from Durham University with a degree in Applied Physics and Electronic Engineering.

Julian Mant

Mercer principal

Julian is primarily responsible for building and developing Mercer Sentinel's Investment Manager Operations and Implementation Due Diligence capabilities, and expanding the global business outside Australia, where Mercer Sentinel has several clients. He will be focusing on investment operations, implementation and their governance.

Julian joins from MKM Longboat Capital Advisors, where he was CFO. Julian has over 30 years of Finance and Operations experience on the sell and buy sides, including 15 years at BNP Paribas.

Julian Mant holds an honours degree in chemistry from Imperial College and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Jeff Schutes

US Leader of Investment Consulting and Global Business Leader Manager Research and Worldwide Partner of Mercer Investment Consulting

Jeffery J Schutes is the US Leader of Investment Consulting and Global Business Leader Manager Research and Worldwide Partner of Mercer Investment Consulting. He advises larger, complex clients on investment policy and strategy, the selection of investment managers, and the monitoring and evaluation of manager performance.

Before joining Mercer in 1995, Mr Schutes was Chief Operating Officer of CMS Financial Services, Inc. in Rockville, Maryland. He was instrumental in the startup of CMS, which specializes in investment consulting for institutional and individual clients. His responsibilities included development and interpretation of asset allocation models, manager selection, performance measurement, custodian searches, and NASD and SEC compliance.

Prior to CMS Financial Services, Inc., Mr Schutes was Vice President and General Manager of CDA Investment Technologies, Inc. in Rockville, Maryland. His clients included public funds, endowments and foundations, Taft-Hartley plans, and bank trust departments. In addition to his client responsibilities, he participated in the development of proprietary asset allocation and manager search software and related databases.

Mr Schutes received his Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Finance from Purdue University. He also attended Daniel Webster College where he received an Associate of Science degree in Aviation Management.

Nick Sykes

European Director of Consulting within Mercer's investment consulting business

Nick is European Director of Consulting within Mercer's investment consulting business. As well as advising a number of large United Kingdom pension funds and charities on all investment matters he is responsible for intellectual capital generation across Europe. He is also responsible for Mercer's Dynamic Asset Allocation process as well as being a member of the UK Research Rating Review Committee. Nick is a member of Mercer's Worldwide Partners Group.

Nick has over 28 years of experience in various aspects of the investment business including fund management and investment consulting. Prior to joining Mercer in 1997, he was head of United Kingdom equities and a member of the Board at Baring Asset Management. Prior to that he had specialised in managing client relationships with large pension funds and charities as Head of United Kingdom Institutional Business for Barings. Before joining Baring, Nick began his career with Baillie Gifford & Co in Edinburgh. He has many years' experience of both stock selection and asset allocation.

Nick has a Masters degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University.

Alex Thompson

Senior Associate within Mercer's Manager Research team

Alex is a Senior Associate within Mercer's Manager Research team, which sits within Mercer's investment consulting business. Located in London, he participates in research of fixed income strategies.

Alex joined Mercer in 2007. Prior to that, he spent two years working at Aon Consulting in London as a manager researcher covering various investment strategies, latterly specialising in fixed income. Prior to Aon Consulting, Alex spent three years at Entegria Limited (now Xafinity Consulting) as an investment assistant within the investment consulting division.

Alex has a Bachelor's degree in Applied Economics from the University of Plymouth and holds the IMC qualification by examination.

Stephen Williams

Mercer senior associate

Stephen Williams is a member of the Manager Research team in London, a unit within Mercer's Investment Consulting business. Stephen focuses on research of alternative investments, specifically commodities and trading strategies such as global macro and multi-strategy funds.
 
Stephen joined Mercer in January 2009 from Harcourt, an asset management group based in Switzerland, where he was a portfolio manager and hedge fund analyst for over 3 years. Prior to that Stephen was an energy trader in the UK for 5 years with RWE, a global utility, and Aquila, a merchant energy company.
 
Stephen holds an MA from Edinburgh University and is a CFA Institute Charterholder.

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Mercer is a leading global provider of investment consulting services, and offers customized guidance at every stage of the investment decision, risk management and investment monitoring process. We have been dedicated to meeting the needs of clients for more than 30 years, and we work with the fiduciaries of pension funds, foundations, endowments and other investors in some 35 countries. We assist with every aspect of institutional investing (and retail portfolios in some geographies), from strategy, structure and implementation to ongoing portfolio management. We create value through our commitment to thought leadership; world-class, independent research; and top-notch consultants with local expertise.