Invest for the Future event

Anna Brading, Financial Content Creator

Anna Brading has an online presence reaching over 250,000 on TikTok, Instagram and other channels to help thousands of people transform their finances. A Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) and author of Money Mentor (published by Bloomsbury), she is passionate about demystifying money for her online community, and has worked with trusted brands, financial institutions, and even the UK Government, including HM Treasury and Downing Street, to help shape better financial education resources..

Chris Cummings, Chief Executive, The Investment Association & Deputy Chair, Retail Investment Campaign

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. Chris is a member of HM Treasury’s Investment Management Taskforce, and was a founding member of its Financial Services Trade & Investment Board. He is the Chair of the Risk Warning Review and the Deputy Chair of the Retail Investment Campaign - both announced as part of the Government's Leed Reforms in July 2025. He is a Board member on EFAMA, the European trade association for investment management and former Chair of IIFA, the international association for investment management. He is also a Chair of Just Finance Foundation.

Clare Francis, Director of Savings & Investments, Barclays

Clare is a Director of Savings & Investments at Barclays Smart Investor. Previously a financial journalist with over 15 years’ experience covering consumer finance, her work now focuses on breaking down the barriers to investing and supporting people with their investment decisions. She is passionate about helping people raise their financial awareness and understanding so they are more confident about managing their money and achieving their financial goals.

Dawn Houghton, Senior Consultant, Wisdom Council

Dawn Houghton is a senior consultant to The Wisdom Council, leading their work on investor and product governance – challenging the industry to ‘think customer’ in the design, delivery and communication of investment and long-term savings products and services. With over 30 years’ experience in the asset management industry – as a senior practitioner and consultant – Dawn has hands-on experience of the commercial and regulatory challenges facing the industry as well as deep investment industry expertise. Dawn sat on the Technical Working Group on Investment Risk and is a fund board iNED

Fahad Kamal, Chief Investment Officer, Natwest/Coutts

Fahad Kamal is Chief Investment Officer at Coutts, heading the investment and risk teams in managing client assets of about £55 billion. Prior to Coutts, he was CIO at Kleinwort Hambros, Société Générale’s wholly owned UK private bank, where he chaired KH’s investment committee, and was one of three voting members on Société Générale Private Bank’s global investment committee (with total AUM of €140 Billion). He has also held positions at the United States Agency for International Development and Institutional Shareholder Services. Fahad holds a BA in Economics from the George Washington University in Washington DC and an MBA from the Cass Business School in London.

Helen Ayres, Head of Communications, The Investment Association

Helen Ayres is Head of Communications at The Investment Association, where she leads strategic communications and media engagement on behalf of the UK investment management industry. She oversees corporate communications and reputation management, working closely with senior industry leaders, policymakers, regulators and the media. Helen has played a central role within the IA’s secretariat for the UK Retail Investment Campaign, a flagship, nationwide initiative aimed at boosting confidence, understanding and participation in investing.

Holly MacKay, Founder and CEO. Boring Money

Holly Mackay has worked in the investment industry for over 25 years, after finishing a degree in Modern Languages at Oxford University. She worked in various markets for Aviva, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and Santander, before setting up her first business in 2008. She sold this to a media group and exited in 2014, then setting up Boring Money in 2015. Boring Money is one of the most respected sources of consumer data and insights for the investment and pension industry, and its quantitative and qualitative research teams support leading blue-chip clients with product development, communications testing, and data to support Consumer Duty and other regulatory requirements. The firm has a proprietary investor research panel of more than 12,000 end investors and conducts focus groups, large quant projects and bespoke projects for clients. The firm’s award-winning consumer website is now the largest investment-specific comparison website in the UK, providing real-time insights on consumer behaviours and preferences. Holly is a renowned consumer champion whose weekly blog, podcasts, webinars and content helps ‘normal people to make better choices’. Her work to tackle both the Gender Investment Gap and the Advice Gap won her Investment Week’s Investment Woman of the Year on two consecutive years. Holly is a regular speaker at conferences and a popular media commentator, appearing on the BBC, ITV and Sky News, as well as writing columns for national newspapers and financial publications. She is one of the UK’s most trusted voices to help consumers make sense of investment markets and products, and to help investment Boards to understand their customers. .

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

Jonathan is Director of Policy, Strategy and Innovation at The Investment Association (IA) and a longstanding member of the IA's Executive Committee. Jonathan’s role focuses on helping the investment management industry to best serve its customer markets at a time of accelerating change. The PSI Division has evolved into a multi-disciplinary and diverse team that covers a wide range of policy and regulation affecting the industry, including competition, communication, financial stability and fund governance, as well as the broader shape of pensions and long-term savings markets. It also houses a specialist Innovation and Operations Unit to assist the industry in adapting to new technologies and help shape the broader landscape. 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, a geopolitical analysis and advisory firm. At OA, he led European political and economic analysis serving a wide range of corporate and government clients, both domestic and overseas. Jonathan is a Board Member of the Cost Transparency Initiative, Chair of the EFAMA Pensions Group, and 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.

Karen Northey, Director of Corporate Affairs, The Investment Association

Karen is a member of the Executive Committee at the Investment Association (IA) and leads the Corporate Affairs function which includes Communications, UK Government Affairs and European and International Regulatory Affairs. More recently, Karen has taken responsibility for leading the Secretariat for the Retail Investment Campaign, a cross industry initiative announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in July 2025 to raise awareness among individuals of the benefits of investing.     Karen joined the IA from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) in March 2022 where she was Head of China, International Markets and Head of Government Relations, Asia Pacific. Prior to LSEG, Karen worked at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) where she held a number of roles including leading the FCA’s international relations function and the asset management and funds policy team.  Karen holds a JD/LLB and a BA from the University of Ottawa in Canada and an LLM from the London School of Economics. She is a qualified solicitor in both the UK and in Ontario, Canada.

Lucy Castledine, Director of Consumer Investments, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Lucy is currently the Director of Consumer Investments. This includes the Supervision of Advisers and Intermediaries, Wealth Managers, Self-invested Personal Pensions, Crowdfunders, Peer-to-peer and Platform firms. Lucy is also responsible for overseeing the policing of our perimeter for unauthorised business, has been leading the engagement with tech firms with the aim of preventing them from showing fraudulent adverts and ensuring we intervene assertively on misleading Financial Promotions. She has also been responsible for the Advice Guidance Boundary Review and the policy development of targeted support with the consultation on simplifying advice and ongoing advice ongoing. Prior to this, Lucy has worked at the FCA for a number of years in a variety of different roles across supervision, authorisation, policy and enforcement.

Miranda Seath, Director of Market Insight and Fund Sectors, The Investment Association

Miranda leads the team analysing data and trends in UK investment management, producing evidence-based insight to support the IA’s policy agenda. The division provides insight to members and external stakeholders through the Investment Management Survey, retail funds market commentary and investor research. Miranda is also responsible for the IA Sectors, the fund classification scheme designed to help UK investors navigate the retail fund universe. Miranda joined the IA in May 2019. Before joining, she was Research Director at Platforum and NextWealth, research and consulting firms focused on retail investment distribution.

Nathan Long, Head of Targeted Support, Hargreaves Lansdown

Nathan is Head of Targeted Support, focussing on how to drive improved decision making for clients. He is the architect of HL’s Savings & Resilience Barometer and has led work on using behavioural science to improve risk warning comprehension. He’s been instrumental in developing analysis of engagement among workplace pension members. He joined Hargreaves Lansdown in 2003 and has worked in several areas of the business including as a financial adviser to individuals, and as a pension and benefits consultant to employers across the UK.

Sasha Wiggins, Chief Executive, Barclays Private Bank and Wealth Management

Sasha Wiggins is Chief Executive of Barclays Private Bank and Wealth Management, a position she has held since February 2024. She is also a member of Barclays Group Executive Committee. With over 20 years’ experience at Barclays, Sasha has held a number of leadership roles across the Group. She was appointed Chief Executive of Barclays Bank Ireland in 2015, was the Chief of Staff to the Group Chief Executive from 2018, and later joined the Group Executive Committee as the Group Head of Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility in 2020. Sasha is Chair of the UK Retail Investment Campaign, a Member of the Board of the UK Investment Association, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment. She is also a Trustee on the Board of Grief Encounter, a national charity supporting bereaved children and young people. .