IA Stewardship & Corporate Governance Forum 2025

Group discount: use the promotional code GROUP for 20% discount on bookings of five or more people.

The Investment Association is pleased to invite you to the IA Stewardship & Corporate Governance Forum 2025, kindly hosted by M&G Investments on Wednesday 29 January. 

There continues to be considerable debate on the role and purpose of stewardship in the UK market and the impact that it has on listed companies and the attractiveness of the UK listing environment.

The IA’s 2025 Stewardship and Corporate Governance Forum will examine where stewardship is now, exploring the differing regulatory expectations across the investment chain, particularly given the ongoing FRC review of the Stewardship Code and implementation of regulations from DWP and FCA. It will also consider how stewardship is working in practice, including the ongoing dialogue with UK listed companies, the live debate on executive remuneration practices in the UK, evolving expectations on ESG issues and the implementation of the recent changes to the Listing Rules.

This takes place against a backdrop of a new Government which is seeking growth and sees UK listed companies as an engine of growth.

The forum will bring together a range of stakeholders including regulators, practitioners, companies and asset owners to discuss where we are now with stewardship and how it needs to continue to evolve. It will address issues including:

• The role of stewardship in 2025, responding to the new listing rules, expectations on ESG, remuneration and client expectations and evolving market developments such as the Issuer and Investor Forum.
• Where next for the approach to regulation of stewardship, with the review of the FRC Stewardship Code, expectations of FCA and TPR.
• How do we disclose the outcomes of stewardship and the benefits that have been achieved.
• Improving relationships, clarifying roles and responsibilities across the investment chain and ensuring that we are focusing on creating long-term value for companies and ultimately savers.
• What information do investors need from investee companies and how will corporate governance, audit reform and narrative reporting evolve.

08:45 Registration, Refreshments and Networking

09:15 Welcome remarks from the host

Rupert Krefting, Head of Corporate Finance & Stewardship, M&G Investments

09:20 Welcome remarks from The Investment Association CEO

Chris Cummings, Chief Executive, The Investment Association

09:30 Keynote - The regulatory perspective on stewardship and governance

Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, Financial Reporting Council (FRC)

09:55 Panel one: What is effective Stewardship in 2025?
The panel will reflect on the purpose of stewardship in 2025, with the ongoing debate on the role of shareholders, as well as the current consultation on the FRC’s Stewardship Code. The panel will consider the role of stewardship in creating long-term value, whether stakeholder expectations around what stewardship can achieve are realistic, and if it has a real impact in driving changes in company behaviours and performance. The panel will discuss views on:

• The purpose of stewardship and what are realistic achievements it can or should deliver for clients and other stakeholders?
• Views on the proposed changes to the Code and does it still set an international ‘gold standard’?
• What are current asset owner expectations on stewardship (and how these may evolve in the future)?
• Does investment stewardship influence the competitiveness of the UK market?
• How effective is stewardship in tackling broader systemic risks?

Moderator: Andrew Ninian, Director of Stewardship, Risk & Tax, The Investment Association 

• Paras Anand, Chief Investment Officer, Artemis Funds
• Diandra Soobiah, Director of Responsible Investment, Nest Pensions
• Sir Jon Symonds CBE, Non-Executive Chair, GSK
• Paul Lee, Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investment Strategy, Redington

10:45 Networking Break

11:15 Panel two: How can stewardship practices be improved?
The panel will explore current practices within investment stewardship and how the mechanisms for stewardship can be improved or better integrated into the investment process, to deliver long-term value for clients. We will assess how asset managers can better take account of demands from clients and wider stakeholders, at a time where preferences around sustainability issues continue to evolve.

• Exploring whether the stewardship mechanisms that were developed predominately for governance issues can be used on a much a wider set of ESG issues? if not, how can other mechanisms be developed?
• Considering the role and purpose of systemic/thematic stewardship Vs. company specific stewardship?
• Suggesting ways to improve our industry’s communication with clients and other stakeholders on what can be achieved through stewardship
• How can stewardship be better embedded into the investment process to take account of client preferences?

Moderator: Sana Mirza-Awan, Senior Policy Advisor, The Investment Association 

• Laura O’Shea, Associate Director - Stewardship, M&G Investments
• Athanasia Karananou, Head of Stewardship, RBC Brewin Dolphin
• Deborah Gilshan, Head of ESG and Stewardship Europe, AustralianSuper (UK) Ltd
• Chris Anker, Head of Stewardship and Regulatory Change, Redwheel

12:00 Keynote - Department of Business plans in 2025 for Governance and Stewardship
Andrew Death, Deputy Director Corporate Reporting, Assurance and Governance at Department for Business and Trade is our second keynote speaker. Andrew will set out recent developments and DBT's plans for 2025 on narrative reporting, corporate governance and audit reform.

This will include the proposed consultation on the future of corporate reporting including how the current non-financial reporting requirements, (including those within the Directors' and Strategic Report) are meeting investor needs, the next steps on the endorsement and implementation of the ISSB sustainability reporting standards in the UK for listed and private companies and the assurance of sustainability reporting.

Andrew will also cover the Government's approach to corporate governance and audit reform with the intended draft audit reform and corporate governance bill announced in the King's speech last July, which will include the creation of ARGA to replace the FRC. The draft bill is expected to be published and receive initial parliamentary scrutiny later in the year. Andrew will set out how investors views can be heard through the development of these initiatives and how they feed into the government's mission to support growth and competitiveness.

Andrew Death, Deputy Director of Corporate Reporting, Assurance and Governance, Department for Business and Trade

12:25 Panel three: How do we improve/ align relationships across the investment chain?
This panel will consider the role of different stakeholders across the investment chain, how to improve both alignment and accountability between parties. Seeking to identify the current challenges and ways to address them. We will assess potential opportunities for streamlining reporting requirements for corporates, asset managers and owners. As well as the role of technology in supporting stewardship, industry initiatives to foster long-term, constructive dialogue between investors and companies and how to improve accountability between investment managers and asset owners. 

Moderator: Lawrence Baker, Policy Advisor, The Investment Association 

• Amanda Mellor, Group Company Secretary, Haleon plc
• Jeannette Andrews, Senior Global ESG Manager, Legal & General Investment Management
• Vaishnavi Ravishankar, Head of Stewardship, Brunel Pension Partnership 
• Sallie Pilot, Managing Director Investor & Issuer Forum, Investor Forum

13:10 Closing remarks by the Director of Stewardship, Risk and Tax

13:15 Networking lunch

Rupert Krefting, Head of Corporate Finance and Stewardship, M&G Investments
Rupert is Head of Corporate Finance and Stewardship at M&G Investments, a Member firm. Rupert qualified as a chartered accountant then worked in investment banking for more than two decades, before joining M&G in 2016. Rupert is a Member of the Investment Association’s Stewardship Committee and Chairs the Corporate Reporting and Audit Group. At the IIGCC, he sits on the Corporate Programme Advisory Group, and is co-lead on a number of Climate Action 100+ and Nature 100 engagements. He is a Member of the Pre-emption Group and serves on the UK Endorsement Board’s Investor Advisory Group.

Chris Cummings, Chief Executive, The Investment Association
Chris Cummings is the Chief Executive of The Investment Association, a post he has held since September 2016. The Investment Association is the trade body that represents UK-based investment managers.

He is a member of HM Treasury’s Asset Management Taskforce, and was a founding member of its Financial Services Trade & Investment Board. He serves on the Chancellor’s Financial Services Industry Advisory Group and Department for International Trade’s Financial Services Trade Advisory Group. He is a Board member on EFAMA, the European trade association for investment management and is Chairman of IIFA, the international association for investment management. He is also a Chair of Just Finance Foundation.

He was previously a member of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Regulatory Decisions Committee, a Settlement Decision Maker for the Payment Services Regulator. He served on the Foreign & Commonwealth’s Diplomatic Excellence Panel.

Before joining The Investment Association he was the founding CEO of TheCityUK, held senior posts in banking, insurance and consulting with major global firms. He is a regular columnist, commentator and speaker on issues of international competitiveness and regulation in financial services.

Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, Financial Reporting Council (FRC)
Kate joined the FRC as the Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs in May 2020. Previously she was the Head of Corporate Development at Jupiter Asset Management where she was responsible for corporate strategy, investor relations and communications. Kate was the Managing Director of Investor Relations at Lloyds Banking Group during the financial crisis before becoming a Partner at Brunswick and then at Maitland advising global clients on capital markets and communications issues.

After qualifying as a lawyer, Kate spent most of her career in the financial services sector in the UK, Europe and Australasia in senior leadership roles in distribution and alternative assets at AMP Asset Management, Henderson Global Investors and RBS Asset Management.

Andrew Ninian, Director of Stewardship, Risk and Tax, The Investment Association
Andrew is responsible for representing The Investment Association members interests as institutional investors on stewardship and corporate governance matters. Andrew also has executive team responsibility for the IA’s Risk and Tax Unit focussing on business risks affecting member firms.

Andrew is responsible for working with members to set the IA guidelines for investee companies and has oversight of The IA's voting research service IVIS, including company consultation and engagement. Andrew also oversees the IA’s work on helping to improve member practices on stewardship and policy development on stewardship and corporate governance matters. Andrew joined The Investment Association in June 2014, through merger of the Investment Affairs division of the ABI with the IMA. Andrew read Economics at the University of Bath.

Andrew is a member of the FTSE Russell Policy Advisory Board and the Advisory Panel to the FTSE Women Leaders Review.

Paras Anand, Chief Investment Officer, Artemis Funds
Paras held a number of fund management roles in London and New York before becoming Head of European Equities at F&C Investments. He then joined Fidelity in 2012 as Chief Investment Officer (CIO) for European equities; before moving to Singapore in 2018 to become CIO for all asset classes and functions across the Asia-Pacific region. He was also a member of Fidelity International’s Global Operating Committee. He led the group’s strategy on sustainability and was global sponsor for cultural diversity.  Paras joined Artemis as CIO in 2022. He is a partner in Artemis Investment Management LLP, a member of Artemis’ Executive Committee and a director of Artemis Fund Managers Limited.

Diandra Soobiah, Director of Responsible Investments, Nest Pensions

Diandra Soobiah is responsible for the delivery and implementation of Nest’s Responsible Investment approach, ensuring it factors in material environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities. She also makes sure Nest fulfils its role as a responsible steward of members’ assets in order to deliver the best financial outcomes for members.
Diandra has more than 20 years of investment experience including at Nedgroup Investments and Russell Investments. She has been the co-chair of the 30% Club UK Investor Group since 2020. Diandra holds a BA (Hons) in Business Studies and French from Queen Mary University of London and has passed CAIA level 1 and the IMC.

Sir Jonathan Symonds CBE, Non-Executive Chair, GSK
Jon was appointed to the Board of GSK as Chair on 1 September 2019. Jon has extensive international financial, life sciences and governance experience. Jon served as an Independent Non-Executive Director of HSBC Holdings plc from April 2014 and as Chairman of the Group Audit Committee from 1 September 2014 and Deputy Group Chairman from August 2018, until his retirement from the Board in February 2020. Jon was previously Chairman of HSBC Bank plc, Chief Financial Officer of Novartis AG, Partner and Managing Director of Goldman Sachs, Chief Financial Officer of AstraZeneca plc, and a Partner at KPMG. Jon is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

Paul Lee, Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investment Strategy, Redington
Paul Lee is the Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investment Strategy at Redington, supporting the firm's asset owner clients in holding their fund managers to account, particularly on their delivery of stewardship. He has worked for almost 25 years as an investor specialising in engagement and stewardship, helping build businesses and develop best practice over that time. He was part of the small team that created and built the Hermes Equity Ownership Service (EOS) business, worked as Head of Investment Affairs for the UK’s National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF, now the PLSA) and most recently was Head of Corporate Governance – Stewardship at Aberdeen Asset Management, leaving following the merger with Standard Life.

Paul is one of three investor members of the UK Endorsement Board, which is responsible for approving IFRS accounting standards for application in the UK, and chairs its Investor Advisory Group. He is also a member of the UK Sustainability Disclosure Technical Advisory Committee, which provides advice to the Secretary of State on the adoption of ISSB reporting standards in the UK. He was a member of the secretariat for the Brydon Review into the Quality and Effectiveness of Audit.

Sana Mirza-Awan, Senior Policy Advisor, The Investment Association
Sana is currently a Senior Policy Advisor in the Corporate Governance and Stewardship team at the Investment Association. Prior to this she worked at the World Federation of Exchanges as a Regulatory Affairs Manager on Sustainability. Sana started her career in the UK Government, where she worked on a number of industry and Government led Reviews relating to corporate governance and stewardship including: the Kingman Review, the Brydon Review and the Audit and Corporate Governance Reform package. She holds an LLB from the London School of Economics.

Laura O’Shea, Associate Director - Stewardship, M&G Investments
Laura O’Shea is Associate Director - Stewardship at M&G Investments, responsible for leading thematic engagements on environmental, social and governance issues with investee companies to preserve and enhance corporate value for clients' assets. Laura represents M&G on several investor initiatives such as Climate Action 100+ and Nature Action 100.

Laura joined M&G in 2015, initially as investment analyst in the Manager Oversight Team responsible for investment oversight and governance of the M&G Prudential product range (circa £120bn of assets), including the Prudential life funds, Prudential unit linked funds and Prudential platform products. Laura has over 16 years’ investment experience across asset management and private client wealth management, including at BlackRock and Broadstone Pensions and Investments.

Laura is a CFA charterholder and olds an MSc in Economics and a BSc (First Class Honours) in Business Economics and Finance.

Athanasia Karananou, Head of Stewardship, RBC Brewin Dolphin
Athanasia Karananou is the Head of Stewardship at RBC Brewin Dolphin, where she works closely with the central research team across equities and funds. She is also a member of the Investment Association Stewardship Committee and the FRC’s Stakeholder Insight Group. With more than 15 years of experience in the responsible investment industry, Athanasia has worked for a range of different actors such as a proxy advisor, investment manager, ESG service provider and a global investor network. Before joining RBC Brewin Dolphin in 2022, Athanasia was the Director of Corporate Governance and Research at the Principles for the Responsible Investment (PRI). Her other experience includes positions at HSBC Global Asset Management, Sustainalytics and PIRC. Athanasia has an MSc in European Policy and Management and a BA in History, Art History & Archaeology.

Deborah Gilshan, Head of ESG and Stewardship Europe, AustralianSuper
Deborah joined AustralianSuper in July 2023 to lead their work on ESG integration and investment stewardship across public and private markets in Europe. She has global experience in engaging with board directors, senior executives, regulators and investors gained across 26 years working in financial services. Prior to joining AustralianSuper, Deborah ran her own strategic advisory business, helping clients across the investment chain on ESG integration, investment stewardship and diversity. She chaired the Vote Reporting Group for the UK Financial Conduct Authority and served on the Advisory Panel for the UK Financial Reporting Council. Previously, Deborah was an ESG Investment Director at Aberdeen Standard Investments and Head of Sustainable Ownership at Railpen, having started her career in responsible investment at the UK’s Co-operative Insurance Society. She initially worked in corporate tax at EY and read Mathematics & English at the University of Manchester.

In December 2023, Deborah received a Fellowship from CFA UK for her outstanding contribution to the investment profession. She is the Founder of The 100% Club, a networking alliance dedicated to gender equality established in 2011. In November 2022, Deborah released research to demonstrate the power of a gender-based network, which was endorsed by the UK’s FTSE Women Leaders Review. She is a 30% Club Ambassador, a Fellow of the UK Chartered Governance Institute and the lead author of two reports: The Ethics of Diversity (2020) and Say on Pay: Six Years On – Lessons from the UK Experience (2009). Deborah has been recognised for her work on diversity and was named as one of the UK’s top 50 trailblazers in gender equity by We Are The City in March 2023. Her work and opinions have featured in the Financial Times, Sky News, the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and other financial media.

Andrew Death, Deputy Director for Corporate Reporting, Assurance and Governance, Department for Business and Trade
Andrew Death is a Senior Civil Servant in the Department for Business and Trade and has been a civil servant for 23 years in a variety of policy roles. Andrew is currently Deputy Director for Corporate Reporting, Assurance and Governance. His responsibilities include leading a comprehensive review of corporate reporting for UK companies and leading the implementation of the ESG reporting commitments made in the green finance strategy. This includes the endorsement of ISSB standards and transition plan reporting.

Lawrence Baker, Policy Advisor, The Investment Association
Lawrence is a Policy Advisor at The Investment Association, shaping stewardship policy on behalf of member firms. Their role involves managing political engagement and understanding the real economy issues that impact members.
Previously worked at the Financial Ombudsman Service, where they prepared the annual report and provided actionable insights on complex financial disputes for firms and consumers. Additionally, they worked at Govia Thameslink Railway, managing stakeholder relations during a major timetable overhaul and a high-profile industrial dispute over working practices.

Amanda Mellor, Group Company Secretary, Haleon plc
Amanda is currently the Group Company Secretary of Haleon plc. She was previously Group Company Secretary for Standard Chartered plc and Marks and Spencer Group plc, where she was also a member of the Operating Committee. Prior to her career as a Company Secretary, Amanda worked in Investor Relations, Corporate Communications and Investment Banking.

Amanda has experience in international business, consumer and retail, sustainability and ESG, shareholder relations, strategy and governance. Amanda is also the Senior Independent Director (SID) at Volution Group plc.

Jeannette Andrews, Senior Global ESG Manager, Legal & General Investment Management
Jeannette has responsibility for implementing LGIM's corporate-governance strategy across engagement, integration, voting and the development of ESG products. Jeannette represents LGIM on the UK's Company Reporting & Auditing Group. Jeannette joined LGIM in 2015 from USS Investment Management where she held the title of Senior Analyst, Responsible Investment. Jeannette joined USS in 2008, dividing her time between developing and implementing USS's stewardship policies and working as an equity analyst where she was responsible for researching and making stock recommendations for a £420 million global equity income portfolio. Prior to that, she worked for five years as a governance analyst at Manifest Information Services, a proxy voting service provider. Jeannette graduated from Anglia Ruskin University in 2008 and holds the CFA and CAIA charterships. In 2014 Jeannette was recognised by Financial News as one of the 40 under 40 Rising Stars of Asset Management.

Vaishnavi Ravishankar, Head of Stewardship, Brunel Pension Partnership
Vaishnavi started her career in responsible investment in 2010 following completion of her degree in Commerce at the ANU. Currently, as the Head of Stewardship at Brunel Pension Partnership, she is responsible for leading and coordinating all engagement activities and voting implementation and supporting the delivery of investment services and provision of services to Brunel’s clients. Prior to joining Brunel in June 2023, she worked as the director of governance, leading and coordinating the governance team’s activities at the PRI. She has had multiple roles at the PRI over six plus years, including leading collaborative engagements on a range of governance topics. She also spent over six years at an ESG research firm in Australia, analysing sector-specific, thematic and company level risks and supporting active ownership strategies for a range of clients.

Sallie Pilot, Managing Director - Investor & Issuer Forum, Investor Forum
Sallie is an experienced executive director and communications professional with deep expertise in company-investor relations, corporate disclosure, governance and stakeholder engagement.

Sallie is currently the Managing Director of the Investor & Issuer Forum (I&IF), a recently launched initiative by the Investor Forum. The I&IF seeks to bring investors and issuers together to address key challenges and enhance the effectiveness of the UK equity markets, working together with a steering committee of representatives from across the investment chain.

She is an Advisory Panel and Stakeholder Insight Group Member of the FRC, Communications Group Member of the Accounting for Sustainability (A4S), and fellow of the Investor Relations Society. Until recently she was an owner and Executive Director of Black Sun plc a Stakeholder Communications Business where she ran a global advisory and research team, of Investor, ESG, Sustainability, and Communications specialists to deliver a more holistic view of corporate performance.

Kindly hosted by:

 Exhibitor: 

Root provides custom proxy voting, governance, and ESG strategy analyses for institutional investors and owners. Root’s AI-driven stewardship and governance solution offers high-quality data and insights that closely align with investors’ expectations and internal decision-making processes while considering regional, fund-specific, or client-specific policies.

Root’s AI stewardship agents systematically examine corporate governance structures, voting items, as well as corporate ESG strategies, based on custom policies. These analyses highlight potential misalignment with governance codes and industry best practices. With a strong focus on the governance of ESG risks and opportunities, Root’s solution helps investors evaluate the relevance and materiality of ESG KPIs in executive remuneration, assess routine resolutions (e.g., director elections or accounts/audit-related votes) from an ESG perspective, or standardise how boards’ responsibility for climate transition plans is analysed.
Built for transparency, efficiency, and customisation, Root’s technology provides near real-time analysis supported by detailed reasoning and citations, ensuring that investors receive critical insights several weeks—or even months—before key meetings.

By providing access to Root’s AI stewardship agents, Root amplifies existing stewardship efforts with a cost-efficient and tailored solution, empowering investors to make well-informed decisions and drive meaningful outcomes.

Sponsor and exhibitor opportunities are available for this event. If you are interested please email events@theia.org