Risk Management Symposium

Chair

At the IFoA, Sophie is Deputy Chair of the Risk Management Board and Chair of the Committee for Lifelong Learning in Risk Management.

Sophie has expertise in business strategy and risk oversight in the financial sector. She has held senior roles at international investment banks BNP Paribas, JP Morgan, and ABN Amro over 25 years. She has led global projects with multicultural teams to improve business performance.

As a risk and strategy advisor, Sophie has focused on 3 topics: digitalisation at the International Banking Federation, board governance, diversity and inclusion for senior roles and community development at European Women on Boards.

She is a member of the Risk Coalition Advisory group, helping to raise the bar for risk management in financial services, and regularly gives back to London Business School as an MBA alumna.

Susanne is an economist and technology strategist who helps boards and executives govern cyber risk with confidence. Drawing on 25 years across IT strategy, enterprise architecture, digital transformation, and cybersecurity, including CIO leadership, she translates technical complexity into practical oversight.

As founder of Cyber4Directors, she equips board directors and senior executives with the frameworks and questions needed to strengthen cyber governance and resilience. Her focus is making cyber oversight accessible to non-technical leaders, connecting cyber to business impact, people, accountability, and effective assurance. 

Sally Bridgeland is an actuary with extensive experience in innovation, risk management and responsible investment across investment management and pensions. 

She was CEO of the BP Pension Scheme from 2007-14 after 20 years as a consultant and investment researcher. She has since had an extensive non-executive career and is Chair of the Development Bank of Wales, Nest Invest and BelleVie Care.

She is an Honorary Group Captain in 601 Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, introducing diverse ideas to their senior leadership. Sally was also the first woman to be Master of the Worshipful Company of Actuaries in 2016-17.

Mike Clark runs a responsible investment advisory business and focuses on climate change, finance and systemic risk (in two flavours). He was a member of The Pension Regulator’s Transition Plan Working Group and co-author of the resulting transition planning code, not endorsed by TPR at the time of writing. 

He views tipping points in financial markets as a near-certainty. What is the actuarial response? He is interested in the future of actuarial practice, a practice which may assume too often the system is stationary. Historical frequencies can systemically understate future risk. He is minded to advocate for the insurance industry to be mandated to invest, alongside government, in solar radiation modification research. 

William is a Director at BDO. He is senior actuarial and risk professional with 30 years experience with global insurers (and regulators). He has served in Chief Risk Officer / Chief Actuary roles over many years. At BDO he has led various model validation governance and related regulatory reviews for various syndicates. His most recent role, prior to BDO, was as Interim Head of Risk Challenge with QBE UK and Europe. This follows an interim role in Lloyd’s of London during the second half of 2023. Up to May 2023, he was Chief Actuarial Officer at Assurant Europe / Asia Pacific where he headed a regional actuarial department. Assurant acquired TWG in 2018 where he was CRO / Chief Actuary for TWG Europe. William is deputy chair of the IFoA General Insurance Thought Leadership Committee and is a member of the IFoA Risk Management Board.

Emily Forsyth Davies is a sustainability and investment specialist with over 15 years’ experience integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment and risk management. She is a qualified actuary and holds the CFA UK Certificate in ESG Investing. Emily has advised UK and European pension schemes on investment strategy and climate related risk, and serves as the European Representative for the International Actuarial Association’s Water Risk Task Force. Earlier in her career she worked across investment banking, asset management and consultancy, providing pensions investment advice and developing a strong foundation in institutional investment, risk analysis and stakeholder engagement.

Brandon Horwitz is an independent consultant, non-executive director and chartered actuary who works with boards and senior leaders across financial services. His work focuses on the design, delivery and oversight of investment, pensions and insurance propositions, helping organisations translate regulatory expectations into effective operating models and good customer outcomes. 

He advises asset managers, banks, insurers and wealth managers on governance, product design, distribution, remediation and operational change, with a growing focus on the oversight of technology-enabled change, including artificial intelligence. 

Brandon also holds a number of non-executive and regulatory roles, including as a statutory board member of the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority and Chair of the FRC’s Tribunal Appointments Committee. 

Gareth is Chief Financial Officer of Legal & General Capital, the balance sheet investing arm of Legal & General, investing over £4 billion of direct investments in the UK and US. Gareth is also a Director on the Boards of L&G’s US commercial real estate venture with Ancora and its UK retirement villages business.

Prior to L&G, Gareth worked for 18 years at EY where he was latterly the partner responsible for the UK actuarial practice, global investment advisory practice, and the UK sustainable finance consulting practice. He has volunteered for the actuarial profession for many years including serving on the Life Board and chairing the Finance and Investment Board.

Sasha is a Financial Services Partner at BDO LLP, specialising in supporting banks, insurance and asset management firms in a range of engagements related to culture, conduct, regulation and governance matters, having spent some time at the Bank of England.

Alongside her role, Sasha leads BDO’s national non-executive director community and holds a number of leadership positions within BDO. Passionate about inclusion within the financial services’ sector, Sasha co-leads the Diversity Project's ambassador programme and is a mentor with Women in Banking and Finance. 

Feryal Nadeem is the Chief Risk Officer at OneFamily, where Feryal leads the organisation’s risk and governance agenda across strategic transformation, regulatory engagement and operational resilience. As a key contributor to the firm’s AI governance and risk appetite, Feryal plays a central role in shaping responsible adoption of AI technologies at OneFamily.

Feryal also represents the organisation in wider industry dialogue, including participation in sector level discussions on cyber security and emerging regulatory expectations. Feryal is the Chair of the IFoA’s CRO group.

Yvonne Palm is the Group Chief Risk Officer at African Reinsurance Corporation, where she leads risk management and compliance strategy across Africa and the Middle East. Based in Lagos, Nigeria, she plays a critical role in shaping resilient, forward-looking risk frameworks across diverse markets.

A dual Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Yvonne previously served on the CAS Board, where she contributed to strategic governance within the global actuarial profession. She is a passionate advocate for building actuarial capacity across Africa and co-founded the African Actuarial Development Academy (AADA) to mentor, educate, and elevate emerging talent on the continent.

Before joining Africa Re, Yvonne was Lead Corporate Actuary at Travelers in London and held senior actuarial roles at EY, Markel International, and ACE European Group. She brings more than twenty years of experience in the US, UK, and African markets and is recognised for her distinguished contributions as a speaker, respected leader, and committed mentor.

Daniel Ramsay is an associate director and the Actuarial GenAI Lead in Deloitte’s actuarial, insurance and banking practice in the UK. Daniel is a founder and co-chair of the IFoA’s GenAI Working Party and has presented on topics of GenAI and AI agents at IFoA Life Conference 2023 and 2024.

He also recently published a white paper called ‘The Agentic Model Office: AI agents and the future of insurance organisations’ as part of the IFoA’s ‘think’ thought leadership series. Daniel is a member of the International Actuarial Association AI taskforce and represents the IFoA at the Actuarial Association of Europe’s data science and AI working group.

Jenny Segal MA FIA C.Act ARSM is passionate about creating cultures people want to work in. Following a maths degree from Oxford University, qualifying as an actuary and 25 years leading global sales teams, a spat with cancer gave her a fresh perspective on purpose. She now enjoys a portfolio career: board roles, ambassador for the Diversity Project, and Chief Investment Officer for Nesta Trust. She is a compelling author, trainer and public speaker, drawing on her leadership career and proprietary research from her five books. 

Kartina brings 25 years of diverse actuarial, risk management, governance, and regulatory experience. Her prior experience includes a Big-Four audit firm, the Bank of England, global insurance carriers, and brokers. Her most recent executive role is with WTW, the largest global insurance consultancy, as a Senior Director where she leads the risk, regulation, and governance proposition. Kartina also has non-executive experience, most recently for an FTSE-listed company and a fintech firm.

As a subject matter expert in the UK and European insurance regulation, she advises firms on resolving their regulatory issues and adding business value by helping boards in their decision-making. From roles as Chief Risk Officer, a member of the supervisory panel at the Bank of England, and a partner to C-suites and boards of various firms, she brings practical experience to business solutions.

Kartina holds leadership positions in the actuarial profession in the UK and globally. She served on the IFoA Council for eight years and was a member of its Audit and Risk Committee. She was also on the Board of Directors of the Actuarial Association of Europe for four years.

Kartina is passionate about inclusion, social mobility, and education, which she channelled through her role as the Chair of the IFoA Foundation. She mobilised the charity to make a remarkable impact on the next generation of actuaries and the wider actuarial community.

Kartina was IFoA President 2024-2025.

Peter Tompkins is a Director with Callund Consulting, providing tailored advice to governments on social security and pension plans. His clients are mostly in Asian and African countries in the developing world. He is a member of IFoA Council and represented the Council on the Risk Management Board from 2020 to 2023. Outside work he is the Chairman of the City Music Foundation and of the King’s English Society.

Wendy Walford is Head of Climate & Nature at Legal & General, a UK leading financial services group and major global investor. In this role, she drives integration of environmental risks into financial decision-making. Wendy brings over two decades of insurance experience and deep technical expertise to advocate for policy frameworks that unlock private finance for climate and nature solutions. She co-leads policy initiatives for both the NZAOA and the Sustainability Board of the UK’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA). She works to support the development of credible, long-term regulatory signals that give investors the confidence to back solutions with real-world impact.