IA Resilience Forum: Taking stock and looking ahead

Jonathan Lipkin, Director, Policy Strategy and Innovation, The Investment Association

Jonathan is Director of Policy, Strategy and Innovation at The Investment Association (IA) and a member of the IA management team. 
Jonathan’s policy role focuses on how the industry serves its customer markets. This includes areas such as products and competition; fund communications and governance; and the long-term savings and pensions regimes in the UK and internationally. He also works closely on the IA’s broader strategic positioning and leads its programme to support industry innovation.

Jonathan joined the IA in 2005, becoming Director of Public Policy and a member of the IA Executive Committee in 2012. Prior to 2005, he worked for a number of years at Oxford Analytica, an international consultancy. At OA, he led the European political and economic analysis serving a wide range of domestic and overseas clients, both corporate and governmental. 

Jonathan is a Board Member of the Cost Transparency Initiative, Chair of the EFAMA Pensions Group and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Asset Management Research at Bayes Business School. He writes and speaks regularly both in the UK and abroad on investment management and pensions issues.

Suman Ziaullah- Head of Technology, Resilience and Cyber, FCA

Suman Ziaullah leads the FCA’s work to minimise the impact of operational disruptions on financial services firms, markets and consumers. This includes testing firms’ operational and cyber resilience, leading the FCA’s response when firms are disrupted, and focusing our efforts on firms who do not meet our standards. Suman is also a Non-Executive Director at UK Anti-Doping, and Chair of the Board People Committee. Prior to these roles, Suman spent 15 years in the UK Diplomatic Service and 3 years in the private sector. He has long experience working on cyber, developing resilience against major national security threats, and responding to international crises.

James King, Senior Policy Adviser, The Investment Association

James King is the Senior Policy Adviser at the Investment Association responsible for operational resilience, cyber resilience and technology.

Tejas Katwala, CEO, CLDigital

Tejas Katwala is the co-founder and CEO of CLDigital, a leading software company that transforms risk, compliance, and resilience management. He partners with enterprises to maximize the ROI of risk management software by enhancing risk visibility, operational efficiency, and compliance. Under his leadership, CLDigital 360 has become a game-changing platform, integrating GRC, business process management, no-code automation, and AI-driven insights to modernize enterprise risk and resilience strategies. By leveraging AI and no-code technology, Tejas helps organizations streamline audits, optimize risk decision-making, and drive measurable business value, without the complexity of traditional software development.

Previously, he pioneered the first cloud-based business continuity platform at Recovery Planner and developed the C|3 Platform at Westhill Technologies, forging key industry partnerships. Tejas holds a bachelor’s degree in computer and information science from NJIT and continues to lead the charge in applying AI-driven insights and no-code innovation to make risk and resilience smarter, faster, and more effective.

Sarah Neild, Head of Retail Cyber, Howden

Mandy Binsley, Head of Operational Resilience & Business Continuity, Hargreaves Lansdown

With a career spanning across the financial services sector, I have developed expertise in operational resilience, risk management, and governance. Beginning my journey in the Branch network, I transitioned into the Operations Division, where I led Mortgage Underwriting, Operations, and Collections & Recoveries teams.

I then pivoted towards governance and risk leadership roles, serving as Head of Governance Risk & Control at Nationwide Building Society, before being appointed Risk & Resilience Director in the latter stages of my tenure. During the Covid lockdown, I joined Santander UK to steer aspects of the Operational Resilience Programme implementation and later took on the Head of Prevent & Protect role.

Currently, I hold the position of Head of Operational Resilience & Business Continuity at Hargreaves Lansdown, a role that has expanded to encompass Operational Risk and Controls within the first line, reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer. My professional journey reflects a commitment to safeguarding organisational resilience and cultivating robust operational frameworks, making me passionate about driving impactful change in the industry.

Dean Berney, Global Head of Operational Resilience and GCOO Risk Management, L&G

Dean Berney joined LGIM in November 2020 with a specific aim to develop, implement and run Operational Resilience for LGIM at a global level which includes the implementation of all applicable regulatory requirements. In addition, Dean has been given the specific responsibility of managing 1st line Risk for the Global Chief Operating Officer.

With over 24 years of industry insight and a track record in building, running and enhancing risk and resilience within highly regulated environments, leveraging industry best practices and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements globally. This is coupled with strong knowledge and experience of working with Investment Banking products (M&A, ECMG, DCMG, Equities & Fixed Income), Financial Market Infrastructure firms and IT (ISO 27001, NIST, COBIT).

Prior to joining LGIM, Dean brings with him experience gained from leading financial institutions such as Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS Investment Bank, HSBC, London Stock Exchange / Clearing House, Euroclear and most recently Legal & General Investment Management. Dean also has experience in enterprise risk management, regulatory filings/licences, change management, vendor & outsourcing, business continuity and business / risk transformation.

Kenneth Mackay, Head of Operational Resilience, M&G Group

Kenny is Head of Operational Resilience for M&G Group, responsible for resilience across their UK and International locations. His career includes 20 years of experience in a range of roles within Financial Services, including Audit, Operations, Risk and Operational Resilience.

For the last 12 years his career has been focussed on Operational Resilience, with a number of roles in both first and second line, including managing the team who produced the RBS / NatWest Operational and Technology Resilience Policies and Frameworks and leading the identification of M&G’s Important Business Services. He’s passionate about the value that Resilience can and should bring to businesses and a firm believer that Resilience shouldn’t be an exercise in compliance.

By nature a cynic and a pessimist, he’s confident that with Operational Resilience, he’s found his calling!

Gerrad Olisa-Ashar, Director Strategic Growth and Partnerships, ToraGuard

Gerrad Olisa-Ashar has 15 years of experience advising business leaders on strategic technology and cyber risk transformation. He is the Director of Strategic Growth and Partnerships at ToraGuard where he partners with executive leaders to align cyber security programs with business goals, strengthen risk posture, and meet evolving regulatory requirements.

Gerrad brings deep expertise in leading enterprise-wide cyber security transformations, designing and executing Security Target Operating Models, and embedding ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, U.K Government Resilience, DORA and NIS2-aligned frameworks.

As a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and Cambridge MBA, he is known for his ability to translate complex security challenges into executive-level strategies that drive measurable value.

Irfan Hemani, Deputy Director - Cyber Security & Resilience Policy, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Irfan is Deputy Director for Cyber Security at the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. He is responsible for UK Cyber Security & Resilience policy. He is also the author of the Harvard Belfer Center's National Cyber Power Index, alongside being a non-executive Director at a UK non-profit organisation. He previously worked in Deloitte's Technology Risk Advisory team. 

Nadji Raib, Vice President, EMEA, KYND

Nadji brings over a decade of experience in cybersecurity across leading technology firms and fast-growing startups. Fluent in English, French, and Arabic, Nadji combines deep subject-matter expertise in external attack surface management, enterprise security, and third-party/supply chain cyber risk with a strong understanding of regional business needs. He plays a key role in enabling financial institutions and their portfolio companies across EMEA to strengthen their cyber resilience and make more informed, risk-aware decisions in today’s dynamic threat landscape.