Advisory Board
Management Committee
Iain has nearly 36 years of experience in the energy sector, 34 of those as an executive including 15 years at public company Board level.
He was Group Chief Executive of Centrica plc from January 2015 to March 2020. A Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 energy, services and lower-carbon solutions company including British Gas, Iain drove the strategy to reposition the company back towards the customer, and towards services and solutions built around energy, enabling the transition to a lower-carbon future.
Prior to Centrica, Iain was an Executive Director on the Board of BP plc for 10 years and CEO Downstream from 2007-2014. Iain spent 29 years at BP from 1986 to 2014 and previously held a number of senior roles throughout BP including in trading, exploration and production, petrochemicals, and the management of corporate functions such as safety, marketing, IT and technology. He co-authored BP’s first Point of View on Climate Change in 2006.
A chemical engineer by training, Iain possesses a deep understanding of the energy sector built up over a lifetime in the industry. Over his career, Iain has advised governments on energy and climate policy, and from 2017-2020 Iain Co-Chaired the World Economic Forum System Initiative on the Future of Energy.
Iain is a non-executive director and Senior Independent Director of BT Group plc, Senior Advisor to Blackstone, Senior Advisor to BCG, and an Advisor to Oxford Sciences Innovation’s deep tech portfolio. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, a Director of Oxford Flow Ltd, and a member of the Board of the Stop Multiple Sclerosis Appeal.
He was Chairman of the Advisory Board of Imperial College Business School from 2004-2020 and was a member of Imperial College’s governing body from 2010-2019. From 2015-2020 he was a member of the European Round Table for Industry. Previously he served as a nonexecutive director and latterly Senior Independent Director of Rolls-Royce plc from 2005-2014.
Iain was born in Edinburgh and educated in Musselburgh, Scotland. He studied chemical engineering at the Imperial College London. Iain is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Institution of Chemical Engineers, and the City and Guilds of London Institute. He is married with three children.
Mr Loh Boon Chye joined Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) as CEO on 14 July 2015. He is also an Executive and Non-Independent Director on the SGX Board.
With a career in the financial industry that spans three decades, Mr Loh has played a key role in the development of Southeast Asia’s capital markets. Prior to SGX Group, he was Deputy President and Head of Asia Pacific Global Markets, and Country Executive for Singapore and Southeast Asia at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. He spent 17 years in Deutsche Bank where his last role was the Head of Corporate and Investment Banking for Asia Pacific.
Mr Loh currently sits on the board of GIC Pte Ltd. He is also Chairman of the Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics Advisory Board, Co-Chair of the Council for Board Diversity, Vice-Chair of the World Federation of Exchanges, as well as a council member and Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of Banking & Finance Singapore.
Leading SGX Group’s efforts in sustainability and climate action, Mr Loh serves as an independent advisory committee member in the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative, Co-Chair of the Singapore Green Finance Centre advisory board, as well as advisory board member for the Climate Governance Singapore Limited and Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ)’s Asia-Pacific Network. He is also a member of the GFANZ’s CEO Principals Group.
Mr Loh holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the National University of Singapore.
Mr Cheng Jun was appointed the General Manager of Bank of China Singapore Branch in July 2019 and is currently the President of China Enterprises Association (Singapore).
Prior to this appointment, he was the General Manager of BOC Johannesburg Branch from June 2016. Mr Cheng joined Bank of China in 1991 and held various managing positions including the Manager of Risk Management Department of BOC London Branch, as well as Product Director of International Settlement Department, General Manager of Global Trade Services Department at BOC Head Office. Mr. Cheng was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank of China (Canada) Ltd. during 2013-2016.
Mr Cheng graduated from the Renmin University of China with a Bachelor and a Master degree in Economics. He also holds a Bachelor Degree of Science (Hon.) in Finance from University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.
Joris Dierckx is the Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking for Southeast Asia and CEO of Singapore Branch at BNP Paribas.
Joris started his banking career in 1995 as a graduate trainee at Generale Bank in Belgium. At Generale Bank and subsequently at Fortis, he held various roles in export and project finance in Brussels, Dublin, Mumbai and Singapore. In 2008, Joris was appointed country head for Japan at Fortis, while also serving as interim Head of Merchant Banking Asia during the integration with BNP Paribas. Since joining BNP Paribas in 2010, Joris was successively country head for Greece, South Korea and India.
Joris holds a Post-Graduate diploma in Sustainable Development from the University of London, a Post-Graduate degree in Finance from the University of Leuven, a Master of Laws degree from the University of London and Master’s degree from the University of Antwerp.
Jenny Sofian is the Chief Executive Officer at Fullerton Fund Management Company Ltd, where she is responsible for strategic development and management of the firm.
With over two decades of experience in the asset management industry, Jenny has held various leadership roles, including her previous position as CEO and Head of South Asia at Amundi Singapore. There, she oversaw the company’s Southeast Asian and Australian operations and served as the Regional Director of Southeast Asia at the Group Level Executive Committee. Jenny’s career started in managing insurance funds for the Insurance Corporation of Singapore.
Her active involvement in industry bodies has positively influenced and shaped the asset management industry. As the current Chairman of the Investment Management Association of Singapore and a member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Financial Centre Advisory Panel, Jenny has demonstrated her commitment to advancing the industry. She also serves as a director of The Institute of Banking and Finance and was conferred the IBF Fellow award in 2020. In addition, Jenny sits on the advisory board of the Singapore Green Finance Centre, showcasing her dedication to sustainability and the environment.
Jenny’s achievements have been recognised with numerous awards and accolades, including the Lifetime Achievement Award by Asia Asset Management.
She earned her BS in Business Administration with a major in Finance from San Diego University, graduating Summa Cum Laude.
James is co-head of Goldman Sachs Singapore and head of Global Currencies and Emerging Markets in Asia Pacific. He is also chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte. James oversees all of the firm’s activities across South East Asia and is co-chair of the Singapore Leadership Group. James joined Goldman Sachs in 2015 as a partner.
Prior to joining the firm, James worked at JP Morgan, most recently as head of Global Foreign Exchange (FX) Options and Asia FX Trading.
James earned a BSc in Economics from London School of Economics in 2000.
Kee Joo Wong is the Chief Executive Officer for HSBC Singapore, which he commenced in June 2021.
A Singaporean, Kee Joo has more than 26 years of banking experience across different markets including the UK, Thailand, Hong Kong and China.
Prior to being CEO of Singapore, Kee Joo was HSBC’s Regional Head of Global Liquidity and Cash Management for the Asia Pacific region – a role he has held since January 2015. In this role, Kee Joo led HSBC’s delivery of integrated cash management solutions to a multitude of clients across the region including multinational corporations, mid-market enterprises, small businesses, and financial institutions.
From 2009-2015, Kee Joo was Head of Global Liquidity and Cash Management for China, and prior to that, Thailand. In both markets, he was responsible for leading the execution of HSBC’s growth, investment and emerging markets strategy, while leveraging on his strong client orientation and leadership credentials.
Susan Soh is Head of Asia Pacific for Schroders. She is also a member of Schroders’ Group Management Committee (GMC). Susan has almost 30 years of financial industry experience, spanning across different areas of investment banking before specialising in asset management. She has been instrumental in driving Schroders’ success with central banks, national pensions and national institutions in Southeast Asia. In the retail mutual fund distribution industry, she has led Schroders to become one of the market leaders in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. She was appointed Co-Head of Asia Pacific for Schroders in April 2020.
Schroders is one of the founding members of the Singapore Green Finance Centre and Susan currently serves as a Member of its Advisory Board.
Susan was conferred the Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF) Distinguished Fellow (Fund Management) award in 2015. She currently sits on the Executive Committee of Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS), serving as a Vice Chair from November 2016 before being appointed to be the Chair from April 2019.
Susan has also been a passionate advocate of raising industry standards and driving professional excellence. She has served as Council Member of IBF since April 2019, was previously a member of the IBF Standards Committee and chaired the IBF Fund Management Working Group from August 2013 to December 2019. In 2021, Susan has also been appointed to the Board of Trustee of the Wealth Management Institute as well as Singapore Institute of Technology.
Qualifications: Bachelor of Accountancy from National University of Singapore.
Mr. Kannan has been the Managing Executive Officer of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (“SMBC”) since April 2020. He was appointed as Co-Head of Asia Pacific Division of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) as well as in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) in April 2022.
Mr. Kannan’s banking career spans over 27 years having held various leadership roles in Asia with global, regional and product responsibilities. He has a deep experience in corporate and investment banking, structured finance, principal investments and infrastructure and energy finance and is passionate about building businesses and diverse teams to drive innovation, adaptability and sustainable growth.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Kannan was Head of Corporate Banking, Asia Pacific between 2020 and 2022 and was Executive Officer and Head of Investment Banking, Asia Pacific between 2016 and 2020. Under his leadership of corporate banking and investment banking, SMBC enhanced its platform in the region, grew its client base, built SMBC into the top player in infrastructure finance and built a strong ESG Solutions Team, making significant progress on sustainability and green finance. Mr. Kannan was also based in Tokyo between 2012 and 2016 with responsibility for Global Structured Finance. He was the first non-Japanese Executive Officer/ General Manager to be based in SMBC’s head office.
Mr. Kannan is also a member of Board of Directors of Clifford Capital Group of companies, Pierfront Capital Pte Ltd, and Fullerton India Credit Company Limited. He is passionate about sustainability and green finance and is a thought leader in this space. He is an ASEAN Hub Steering Group Member for Sustainable Development Investment Partnership, a joint initiative of OECD and World Economic Forum.
Mr. Kannan started his career at ICICI Bank in Mumbai in 1994 after graduating from Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani in India with a master’s degree in management. He was conferred the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) Distinguished Fellow Award in 2019.
As Cluster CEO Singapore & ASEAN Markets, Patrick is responsible for steering and executing business development and strategy for the Bank in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. These are key strategic markets for the Standard Chartered Bank Group, and Singapore is home to the Bank’s global businesses and Technology & Operations functions.
Before assuming this role, Patrick was CEO Singapore, and Head of Global Banking, Singapore, where he was responsible for the Bank’s corporate and institutional client businesses.
Before joining Standard Chartered in 2012, Patrick was Managing Director, Head of Southeast Asia Investment Banking at Nomura. Prior to that, he was Head of Singapore/Malaysia Investment Banking at UBS and Executive Director, Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley. He has over 25 years of experience in the banking industry, including corporate and investment banking, product and sector coverage, and has worked in Singapore, Hong Kong and London.
Patrick is a Co-Founder and Board Director of Leap Philanthropy Ltd, a Singapore-based charity active in Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar. He is also a Board Director of Clifford Capital (established as a specialist provider of structured finance solutions).
Patrick graduated with BA (First Class Honors) and MA in English from Trinity College, Cambridge.
Valerie Lau, CFA is Head Southeast Asia and Singapore for the APAC Sustainable Finance Office where she is responsible for driving Sustainable Finance business initiatives across the firm in APAC. Her focus is on client engagement, staff and client education, and strategic partnerships with key stakeholders. She represents UBS on the Sustainability Forum and on the Philanthropy Workgroup of the Private Banking Industry Group. She is also a member of the ESG Advisory Panel in SGListCo, an association of SGX listed companies. She also sits on the Advisory Board of the Singapore Green Finance Centre.
Prior to this role, she led a team of bankers in Global Wealth Management and advised High Net Worth clients in growing their wealth. She also headed the Office of the Divisional Vice Chairman, where she advised Ultra High Net Worth clients and pioneered UBS Second Generation Organization program for top billionaire successor clients in SE Asia. Valerie has advised both bankers and regulators on developing the wealth management industry. She led a UBS team to advise an institutional Chinese banking client on starting its private banking business. She also advised the China Banking Regulatory Commission, at their invitation, on developing Chinese private banking. A versatile leader and veteran communicator, Valerie spent a decade in the leading financial and economic agencies of the Singapore government. Her last role was Division Head, Debt Capital Market and Treasury division at the Monetary Authority of Singapore. She started her career as an Economist with the Ministry of Trade and Industry. During her time, she was speechwriter for all sitting Prime Ministers of Singapore on many economic policy addresses.
She graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science where she was a Singapore Public Service Commission scholar, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst holder and a holder of the CFA Institute Certificate in ESG Investing. She is Treasurer on the School Advisory Committee of Cedar Girls’ Secondary School.
Gillian Tan is the Assistant Managing Director of the Development and International Group and Chief Sustainability Officer, overseeing the development of Singapore as an international financial centre as well as MAS’ sustainability strategies and international relations.
Prior to this appointment, Ms Tan was Executive Director of the Financial Markets Development Department, which aims to promote a vibrant financial market in Singapore, with a focus on developing the capital market, asset management and insurance sectors as well as green finance capabilities and solutions. From 2016-2019, she served as Executive Director of the Enforcement Department, which is tasked with surveillance and enforcement across the sectors regulated by MAS.
Ms Tan previously worked in the Supreme Court of Singapore as a Justices’ Law Clerk and Assistant Registrar and was subsequently appointed as a District Judge of the State Courts of Singapore. She also served as a Deputy Public Prosecutor and Deputy Senior State Counsel in the Attorney-General’s Chambers for a number of years.
Ms Tan graduated from Cambridge University with a First Class Honours in Law. She also holds a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School. She was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2018.
Robert Kosowski is Head of the Department of Finance and Professor of Finance at Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London. He is a research fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and an associate member of the Oxford-Man Institute of Quantitative Finance at Oxford University. Robert is on the editorial board of the Journal of Systematic Investing. Link to CV.
Robert Kosowski’s research interests include asset management, risk management, machine learning, hedge funds, mutual funds, performance measurement, business cycles, derivative trading strategies and economic forecasting.
Robert provides an overview of his research during the first 20 years of his scientific career in his 2021 inaugural lecture.
Robert’s research has been featured in The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal and was awarded the European Finance Association 2007 Best Paper Award, four INQUIRE best paper awards, and the British Academy’s mid-career fellowship (2011-2012). Robert’s research has been published in top peer-reviewed finance journals such as The Journal of Finance, The Journal of Financial Economics and the Review of Financial Studies.
Robert’s book Principles of Financial Engineering (co-authored with Salih Neftci) was published in 2014.
Prior to joining Imperial College London Robert was an Assistant Professor of Finance at INSEAD where he taught in the MBA, Executive Education and PhD programs. Robert was a visiting scholar at the UCSD Economics Department (2000) and the International Monetary Fund (2008). At Imperial Robert teaches in MSc and executive education programmes. Robert won teaching prizes (in 2009 and 2014) and a dean’s faculty excellence award (in 2014) at Imperial College Business School. Robert is programme director for the Imperial executive education programme Risk Management.
Robert holds a BA (First Class Honours) and MA in Economics from Trinity College, Cambridge University, and a MSc in Economics and PhD from the London School of Economics.
Robert has consulted for private and public sector organizations in the areas of asset and risk management. From 2017 until 2021 he was Head of Quantitative Research (part-time) at Unigestion. Prior to his academic career, Robert worked for Goldman Sachs, the Boston Consulting Group and Deutsche Bank. His policy related advisory work includes: Specialist Adviser to UK House of Lords (2009-2010), Expert Technical Consultant (International Monetary Fund, 2008, 2016).