Melbourne agenda

Appointed in 2016, Alex Joiner is Chief Economist at IFM Investors. He is responsible for the firm’s economic, financial market and geopolitical risk analysis that is key in IFM’s investment process. In this capacity he engages with IFM’s domestic and global clients on macro-investment trends and themes. He is a frequent commentator on economic and markets via traditional and social media and regularly speaks at public forums and conferences. He has over two decades of professional experience in economic and markets and prior to joining IFM was the Chief Economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (Australian & New Zealand) after being a senior economist at ANZ Bank. He holds a First Class honours degree in Economics and a PhD in Econometrics from Monash University. Alex is also committee member of the Australian Business Economists.

Daniela is the Head of Sustainable Investing – Australia, at Fidelity International, where she has been since August 2021. She is also a non-executive director at the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA). Prior to Fidelity she was a Senior Responsible Investment Adviser at HESTA, one of Australia’s largest pension funds. While at HESTA, Daniela set up and was the Chair of the investor group of 40:40 Vision, an investor led initiative to achieve gender balance in executive leadership. Daniela has held roles in responsible investment across the UK (Legal and General) and US (Wespath Benefits and Investments) before settling in Australia. She was also a member of the PRI Stewardship Advisory Committee between 2017 and 2021.

Originally from Ecuador, her career began as one of the founding members of a not for profit focusing on improving education and health outcomes in the region. Daniela holds an MSc. in Environment and Development from London School of Economics and a B.A in Journalism from Universidad San Francisco de Quito.

Prerna is the Global Head of Market Development for ESG & Climate Credit Risk at S&P Global Market Intelligence. She joined the company in 2017 as Director - Pre-sales, Credit Risk Solutions. She possesses over 18 years of work experience across banking and financial services.

In her current role, she manages a broad range of responsibilities including market outreach, strategic client engagement, business strategy and product roadmap of S&P Global’s climate credit risk solutions. Prerna has worked extensively in the areas of climate scenario analysis, climate stress testing and climate related financial reporting with some of the largest financial institutions across the globe.

Prior to this, she worked with J.P. Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank in the fields of debt capital markets, investment banking and credit risk. Prerna is a Chartered Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and is certified in Climate Stress Testing from Risk Learning, Singapore.

Chris Newton is a leading practitioner in Responsible Investment and brings essential technical skillsets and insights to the design and delivery of Environment Social & Governance (ESG) and business strategy.

He has led the Global ESG strategy for one of Australia’s largest fund managers, and has worked across multiple asset classes – including listed entities, real assets, fixed income and private equity -designing and executing ESG strategy.

His work has been recognised by both Global and Domestic Institutional Investor bodies, including the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI), Australian Council for Superannuation Investors (ACSI) and the Investor Group for Climate Change (IGCC).

Chris currently advises on ESG policy and strategy and has undertaken ESG Due diligence and asset management activities for fund managers, pension funds and listed entities in Australia and overseas.

With a distinguished 20-year career at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Estelle Parker brings crucial expertise in government relations, policy-making, and themes important to responsible investors, including human rights and the SDGs. As a leader driving RIAA’s research, certification, policy, standards, and working group programs, her leadership has elevated these initiatives to achieve heightened levels of professionalism, impact, and value delivery for our members, aligning seamlessly with RIAA’s strategic objectives.

Beyond her organisational impact, Estelle is a respected figure in the responsible investment landscape, serving as a strong advocate on influential global and government committees, including the Principles for Responsible Investment’s Global Policy Reference Group, the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance and the Australian Government’s Natural Capital Working Group. Additionally, she serves as the Convenor of the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures official Consultation Group for Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, and the Steering Committee for the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute. She is also a member of the Council of the Australian Institute for International Affairs (Victoria).

Rob is the Founder & Principal of Blue Fort Advisory. He is a values-driven, independent consultant in highly regulated sectors.  With a broad base of corporate/commercial experience in risk, compliance, governance and legal, he has been a trusted adviser for 20 years to businesses across the globe.  Rob takes an approach based on a deep understanding of client needs and a commitment to delivering results that drive their success.  He has studied and worked in Australia and the USA, is admitted to the bar in New York and is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.

Natalie was appointed as Chief Risk Officer and Company Secretary for Equip Super in November 2017, and her portfolio of responsibilities include the risk, compliance, legal, governance and company secretarial functions. She also manages the regulatory relationships with APRA and ASIC. Natalie has deep experience in developing and delivering risk and compliance transformation programs, managing complex regulatory change agendas and executing organisational change, including merger activities. She was previously a frontline manager at APRA, with supervision responsibilities across a large and complex portfolio of superannuation trustees and led APRA’s cross-industry thematic review on life insurance and superannuation following the implementation of the Stronger Super Reforms. 

Natalie has a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) from Bond University, a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from the College of Law, a Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

Amanda is an experienced Risk & Compliance leader with more than 20 years’ experience, primarily in the superannuation sector, supporting organisations to achieve their fiduciary, regulatory and strategic objectives with the support of robust risk management and governance frameworks.  She is currently the Director, Risk & Compliance and Chief Compliance Officer at IFM Investors, a global institutional asset manager owned by industry superannuation funds. 

Joleigh Stapleton leads the Emergent Risk group at AustralianSuper. After graduation from the University of Cape Town, she has gained over 20 years’ experience in risk and compliance roles in both Australia and London. Joleigh has a strong interest in how risk can enable strategy and build risk cultures. 

Ben is a Senior Manager in the Portfolio Risk & Solutions team at VFMC, which is responsible for whole-of-portfolio modelling, analytics and implemented solutions in addition to being a key input into the investment decision making process at the organisation.  With a career spanning over 20 years in financial services, both in Australia and the UK, Ben has worked across a range of financial institutions including asset consulting, banking and funds management.

Prior to joining VFMC in 2018, Ben worked at JANA Investment Advisers, providing consulting advice to some of Australia's largest superannuation funds.  Before this Ben worked in London at Royal Bank of Canada in market risk, having oversight of their rates & FX exotics / structured notes book in Europe, Asia and the US.

Ben is a CFA Charterholder in addition to a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the University of Melbourne.

Margot Jones was appointed the Head of Private Markets Risk, in QIC's Risk Management Group, in November 2023. Prior to this, Margot was a manager in the Private Markets Risk team, having joined QIC in 2019. Over the last 5 years, Margot has been a key contributor to QIC's risk management strategy & investment risk uplift and has worked extensively with QIC’s investment teams including Infrastructure, Private Equity, Real Estate and Private Debt. She is a member of the QIC Infrastructure Investment Committee, QIC Private Equity Investment Committee and the QPE QLD Innovation Investment Committee.   

Margot has more than 20 years of experience in funds management and analysis. Prior to joining QIC, she worked as an Investment Manager for Fife Capital and held a variety of other roles at Grant Samuel, BDO and Horwath. Margot is a member of the CFA Institute. 

As Head of Alternatives for Australia’s largest investment consultant, Iain leads strategic research initiatives on behalf of JANA’s diverse client base, from mega-size ($100b+) pension funds to local endowments, non-for-profits, insurance, and family offices. This includes direct strategy and hedge fund research, where he draws on his 10yrs+ experience as a senior member of the investment team at Aurum Funds, a multi-award-winning hedge fund allocator based in London. The role also spans the overseeing of strategic relationships,  opportunities in alternative credit, and internal investment governance and capital markets strategy.

Educated in Melbourne as well as Brussels, Iain completed undergraduate studies (commerce, econometrics) at the University of Melbourne, a post graduate diploma in applied finance and is a CFA charter holder.

Madeleine has over 30 years experience in financial services, advising banks, insurance companies, superannuation funds, asset managers, brokers & fintechs.

She is a Chartered Accountant and a Governance & Risk & Compliance adviser. She has consulted to regulators including APRA & ASIC and is a trusted advisor to Boards & management.

Madeleine has been a Partner in Big 4 accounting firms and was the National Head of Financial Services for Grant Thornton Australia. She is also an experienced Non Executive Director and Chair of Audit Committee.

Brett Elvish is Founder and Director of Financial Viewpoint; established in 2007 providing business and operational management advice for asset owners and asset managers.  Brett has more than 35 years’ experience in investment management, investment consulting and investment operations.  Over the past 25 years, he has been an advisor to many of Australia’s largest asset owners and asset managers.

Brett’s pro bono activities include being director and Treasurer of CFA Society Melbourne, and a member of CFA Australia Employer Engagement Advisory Council.  He is a Life Member and former Chair of the CIMA Society Australia and supported ASFA over 3 decades including in the role of Deputy Chair of the ASFA Economics and Investment Policy Council.  Brett is a CFA charterholder, and has a B.Com. and MBA from University of Melbourne.

Rob is the Founder & Principal of Blue Fort Advisory. He is a values-driven, independent consultant in highly regulated sectors.  With a broad base of corporate/commercial experience in risk, compliance, governance and legal, he has been a trusted adviser for 20 years to businesses across the globe.  Rob takes an approach based on a deep understanding of client needs and a commitment to delivering results that drive their success.  He has studied and worked in Australia and the USA, is admitted to the bar in New York and is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.