Funds Symposium 2026: Building Momentum in the UK Funds Market

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 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.

Cassie Waller, Chief Executive Office, Santander Asset Management UK

Cassie Waller joined Santander Asset Management UK as Chief Commercial Officer in February 2023, earning promotion to the role of Chief Executive Officer in May 2024.

Cassie joined Santander Asset Management from Syntax Research Inc, where she was Chief Operating Officer. She also held the role of Chief Marketing Officer based in Florida, as well as a number of senior roles in State Street Bank Europe and State Street Global Markets, with responsibility for consultant relationships and portfolio solutions sales. Roles at Putnam Investments, Friends, Ivory & Sime and Wellington Management saw her gather a wealth of experience across a diverse range of disciplines.

A forward-thinking senior executive with a proven record of accomplishment during her 25-year career, Cassie is a driven and ambitious business leader, dedicated to continuous business improvement, with a focus on enhancing revenue and streamlining business operations. Cassie has been successful in executing successful investment sales strategies, establishing winning teams and forging strong industry and internal partnerships.

Cassie Waller holds a degree in International Politics, Communications and Marketing from Boston College. She is committed to diversity and inclusion, supporting women in business through a number of industry initiatives.

Michelle Beck, Director Wholesale Buy-Side, FCA

Since starting her career in financial services in 1986, Michelle has served as a risk management fellow in the Analytics Office of the SEC and chief risk officer for buyside firms including TIAA Financial Solutions, Nuveen and Russell Investments. Michelle has played leading roles in market and operational risk, as well as derivative product trading roles, for banks in the US and Europe including Bankers Trust and Deutsche Bank. Michelle joined the FCA in 2025 as Director of Wholesale Buy-Side.

Miranda Seath, Director of Market Insight & 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.

Imran Razvi, Senior Policy Adviser, Pensions & Institutional Market, The Investment Association

Imran Razvi is Senior Policy Adviser, Pensions & Institutional Market at the Investment Association. Imran leads the Association's policy work on pensions and retirement, covering a range of topics in institutional investment management. Since 2019 Imran has worked on the development of the Long-Term Asset Fund regime and its operational implementation in the Defined Contribution pensions and retail markets as part of the Association's work to broaden investor access to private markets. Prior to the Investment Association, Imran began his career as an Economist at the Department for Work and Pensions before working as a senior policymaker on pensions reform at the Department.

Henri Loombe-Temple, Product Structuring Director, Schroders Capital

Henri Loombe-Temple is a product structuring director in Schroders Capital, which is the private markets arm of the Schroders group. He has 14 years of asset management experience and works globally on private markets fund structures, including those for the wealth market. He has worked on LTAFs since their initial regulatory consultations, and has most recently delivered what Schroders understands to be the first two wealth-eligible LTAFs to the UK market; composing a private equity strategy and an energy infrastructure strategy. As well as supporting products, he spends a significant amount of time providing private markets structuring advice to clients. He also co-chairs the Retail LTAF Distribution Group, which is an industry group initiated by the Investment Association and the Platforms Association to facilitate the uptake of LTAFs in the UK market. He spent the first six years of his career at PIMCO, predominantly in their product team covering a wide range of fixed income and alternative strategies. He has a degree in engineering from Imperial College, London.

Cora Gibbons, Head of Product, Royal London Asset Management

Ms Cora Gibbons is Head of Product at RLAM and has over 25 years of experience in the asset management and investment funds industry, having held senior executive and fund board positions in various organizations across Europe. In her previous roles, Ms Gibbons lead and structured Product departments, responsible for strategy, design, development, management and governance. She has covered investment strategies and fund structures across all asset classes and global domiciles. Ms Gibbons was previously Head of Product EMEA and APAC at Credit Suisse Asset Management and Head of Products Europe at UBS Asset Management, based in Zurich. Prior to this, she was Managing Director for International Product at Nuveen, Head of Product at Artemis and Head of Product and Fund Development at Barings in London. Prior to joining Barings, Cora was based in Frankfurt, focussing on Product Development and Strategy for the international business of Allianz Global Investors. Ms Gibbons started her career at Bank of Ireland Asset Management in Dublin where she worked in the International Department before moving to Germany. She has a degree in Law and German from Trinity College Dublin and an Executive MBA from ESSEC and Mannheim. 

Jonathan Cleborne, Managing Director, Vanguard & Investment Management Taskforce Technology Group Chair

Jonathan Cleborne, CFA, is Managing Director for Vanguard Europe, responsible for leading the operations and distribu- tion efforts of the European business. Mr. Cleborne relocated to London from Vanguard’s global headquarters in the United States in 2024.

Prior to this role, Mr. Cleborne was head of Personal Investor Advice leading a team that provides Vanguard’s U.S. clients with ongoing asset management and investment advice consultations with Certified Financial Planner™ professionals through Vanguard's Personal Advisor offers. Mr. Cleborne and his team were also responsible for Vanguard Digital Advisor®. Collectively, the team stewarded over $300B on behalf of indi- vidual investors and 401(k) plan participants.

Since joining Vanguard over 20 years ago, Mr. Cleborne has held a variety of roles in Personal Investor, Financial Advisor Services, Corporate Strategy, and the Investment Strategy Group. He was also the global head of Vanguard Portfolio Review Department, which oversees Vanguard's 400-plus mutual funds, ETFs, and their advisors. The department is also responsible for developing the optimal fund lineup for inves- tors, analyzing the health, usage, and competitive landscape of Vanguard's funds and ETFs and serving as specialized product experts.

Mr. Cleborne earned a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He is a CFA® charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of the United Kingdom.

Theo Golden, CFA, Investment Manager, Baillie Gifford

Theo is an investment manager at Baillie Gifford and Chair of the Tokenisation Working Group. Theo is the architect of the firm's tokenisation strategy, and responsible for designing and creating tokenised funds as one of the firm's Digital Asset experts. Theo co-manages the Baillie Gifford Strategic Bond Strategy, and is chair of the Corporate Credit Macro Group. Prior to joining Baillie Gifford in 2021, Theo was a financial journalist from 2019, with roles at various news outlets including Bloomberg and Business Insider. Theo graduated BA (Hons) in Music from Durham University in 2020 and is a CFA Charterholder.

Ellen Hodgetts, Investor Insights Manager, The Investment Association

Ellen Hodgetts is Investor Insights Manager at the Investment Association, where she leads a programme of research into retail investor behaviour and sentiment.

Her research projects focus on topics including investor communications, product use and the barriers to investing in the UK. Ellen works closely with member firms, policymakers and research partners to translate market trends and consumer insights into practical recommendations for the industry that aim to improve investor outcomes.

Emma Tilt, Head of Digital Wealth & Platforms, Wealth & Premier Solutions UK, HSBC

Based in London, Emma is responsible for both the D2C Retail Digital Wealth business and the Financial Planning Proposition & Platforms ensuring a seamless experience for both end investors and advisers across the continuum.

Emma was previously Head of Personal Investing for Fidelity; responsible for leading the business, defining the strategy and commercial management, serving half a million customers with £35B of assets and before that headed up the Digital Advice business.

Emma has been in the Financial Services industry for over 20 years holding various proposition, change and transformational roles across Fidelity, TD and Barclays.  She spent two years in Canada in a global leadership role defining a digital robo-advice proposition.

Emma started her career as a Project Manager, she is both MSP and PRINCE2 Practitioner.

Catriona Kellas, International Legal Lead – Digital Projects, Franklin Templeton

Catriona Kellas is the International legal Lead for Digital Projects at Franklin Templeton. Franklin Templeton is at the forefront of the industry in tokenisation, having launched the first blockchain-based ‘40 Act fund in the United States and, more recently, the first such UCITS in Luxembourg.  Catriona leads the legal and regulatory support for all international projects (globally ex-US) involving digital infrastructure and digital assets, such as fund tokenisation, AI, asset tokenisation, and structuring digital asset-based products and strategies, including projects replicating the success of Franklin Templeton’s tokenised fund in Luxembourg, BVI and Singapore. She acts as SME for digital projects in all regulatory engagement as well as helping the business navigate complex regulatory questions in a number of jurisdictions. Prior to taking up her digital role, she was Legal Head of UK Product at Franklin Templeton in London.

Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, Catriona specialised in asset management regulation at international law firm Eversheds Sutherland, in their London and Hong Kong offices. She holds an MA from the University of Cambridge.

Alastair Sewell, Senior Investment Director, Aviva Investors

Alastair is a senior investment director, with responsibility for Aviva Investors' tokenisation initiative and strategy, including the recently announced partnership with Ripple. Alastair is also the lead representative for Aviva Investors' liquidity and short duration strategies, focussing on strategic initiatives spanning portfolio management, distribution and product development.

Alastair is chairperson of the Institutional Money Market Fund Association, chairperson of the Investment Association's Money Market Fund Working Group, a member of the European Fund and Asset Management Association's Money Market Fund and Tokenisation Working Groups and Aviva Investors' representative on both the Technology Working Group of the UK Government's Investment Management Workforce and the UK's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Workforce.

Alastair joined Aviva Investors from Fitch Ratings, where he was Head of Fund Ratings, responsible for producing ratings and research on money market and short duration bond funds in EMEA and Asia Pacific. Prior to this, Alastair was a CDO rating analyst in Fitch’s structured credit group. Alastair started his career at a UK local authority in 2003.

Alastair holds and undergraduate degree from the University of Bristol, an MBA from the University of Bath and is a CFA Charterholder. He is a student of Mandarin Chinese.

Jasveer Singh, General Counsel, Jupiter Asset Management 

Jasveer is the General Counsel at Jupiter and has responsibility for the firm’s Legal, Product Structuring, Compliance and Governance & Secretariat teams alongside Jupiter’s multi-disciplinary operations in Luxembourg and Ireland. Prior to Jupiter, Jasveer was General Counsel at Man Group plc and before that worked at Clifford Chance.