Plenary speakers
Ronnie joined Hymans Robertson in 1980 and qualified as an actuary the same year. He is scheme actuary and investment advisor to a number of large public and private schemes and has acted as an expert witness. He was the first president of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries having previously served as Faculty president. He is a member of the Profession’s management board and has previously chaired the member support executive committee, the pensions board and has also been a member of the Profession’s finance and general purposes committee, its professional affairs board and the scrutiny committee. Internationally he is on the Board of CERA, the recently launched global actuarial risk management credential. Away from the actuarial world he is a member of the board of the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.
Martin Clarke is the Pension Protection Fund's Executive Director of Financial Risk.
A Cambridge-educated mathematician, actuary and Harvard Business School alumnus, Martin’s previous career was spent in retail financial services with the Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS), the financial services arm of the Co-op, which he joined in 1977.
Among his achievements were to develop the marketing function of the company’s insurance business and lead the CIS’s life and savings business through a period of recovery.
He is an experienced general manager used to dealing with complex and technical projects such as the development of new products, new business opportunities and major change programmes. He has a special interest in corporate social responsibility and the development of socially responsible investment.
Danny Finkelstein is the Executive Editor of The Times. He also writes a weekly column for the paper, commenting on UK politics, society and culture. Danny joined The Times in 2001. In June 2011 he became the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the influential think tank, Policy Exchange.
A former Social Democrat, Danny was a close adviser to party leader David Owen. After David Owen announced his resignation from politics, Danny led a group of young SDP members into the Conservative Party.
He went on to work as Director of the Conservative Research Department (1995-1997), and then - working alongside George Osborne - as political adviser to the Leader of the Opposition William Hague.
Danny is a regular guest on BBC Newsnight and the Politics Show, commenting on British politics and David Cameron’s Conservative led government.
Monty is a well known BBC broadcaster, explorer and writer and has just finished filming a new series about the threats facing the livelihood of the small fleet fishing industry. For over twenty years in this capacity he has led international teams through some of the most demanding environments on earth.
He worked for Nelson Mandela as part of the peace process in South Africa, was awarded the Bish Medal for services to exploration, and for the last decade has specialised in delivering thought-provoking, relevant and highly amusing presentations about performing under stress.
Oliver Kamm is a leader writer and columnist for The Times. He joined the newspaper in 2008 and has written extensively on the financial crisis and its economic consequences. He was previously Head of Strategic Research for Commerzbank Securities and adviser to the Board of Commerzbank AG on investment banking.
Gregg McClymont was born and brought up in Cumbernauld, attending Kildrum Primary School and Cumbernauld High School from 1981 until 1993. He read History at Glasgow University, graduating in 1997, the year he was also chair of Scottish Labour Students. He proceeded to study history at the University of Pennysylvania after winning the prestigious Thouron scholarship. Gregg returned to Cumbernauld in 1999 before doing a PhD in history at St John’s College, Oxford, where he wrote a doctoral thesis in modern British history. Subsequently, he became a tutorial fellow at St. Hugh's College, Oxford, where he taught until May 2010.
He cut his political teeth, as previously mentioned, as chair of Scottish Labour Students and as a speechwriter to the then Cabinet Minister John Reid. Gregg was elected as the MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East in May 2010 with a majority of 13,755. In early 2011, Gregg moved on to the Labour front bench as an assistant whip, before becoming the Shadow Pensions Minister for the Department of Work and Pensions in October 2011.
Having spent the majority of his career at Mercer (and predecessor firm Duncan C Fraser & Co), Bill is currently at the Government Actuary’s Department.First and foremost, Bill is an actuary, but as well as following the traditional consulting career path of advising trustees and employers on their pension arrangements (of all shapes and sizes), Bill has had roles in marketing, professional development, and research. He has held several management positions, including leadership of a global line of business (pensions administration), he has been leader of a European-wide compliance and professional affairs function, and he has worked in Australia as well as in both the private and public sectors in UK.
Dr Amlan Roy is a Managing Director at Credit Suisse based in London. He conducts research on Global Demographics and Pensions, presenting to institutional clients across over 30 countries while speaking at over 50 global conferences annually. He is a Research Fellow of LSE Financial Markets Group and a guest Professor of Finance at London Business School. A previous role at Credit Suisse was as a Global Emerging Markets quantitative strategist. He has previously also had a distinguished university teaching career winning four teaching awards in six years at US business schools and is a CFA Ambassador.
Jenni qualified as an actuary in her mid-twenties in the local offi ce of a pensions actuarial consulting firm. Since then, her career has moved away from roles which strictly need an “actuary”, although has stayed closely involved in a number of exciting areas of retail and institutional financial services. Roles have included Head of Marketing for Marks and Spencer Financial Services, Strategy Consulting KPMG and Business Development and Transactions AXA.
She is currently Head of Strategy and Insight at Lloyds Banking Group for Retail Investment and Protection. Jenni is an active advocate of actuaries developing their careers and skill sets outside of traditional fields but equally passionate that individuals don’t “throw the baby out with the bath water!”