InvestOps Europe 2025
20 - 22 October, 2025
CNIT Forest, Paris
Day 1 - 27 September 2022
8:00 am - 8:50 am
Conference Registration, Coffee and Breakfast Bites
Start your day right. Enjoy a variety of breakfast muffins, pastries and fresh fruit, accompanied by a fresh cup of coffee from our experienced barista.
8:50 am - 8:55 am
Welcome Address: Rory Pilbrow, Editorial Director, WBR
8:55 am - 9:00 am
Chairperson’s Opening Remarks: Virginie O'Shea, Founder and CEO, Firebrand Research
Virginie O'Shea -
Founder & CEO,
Firebrand Research
ACCELERATING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
9:00 am - 9:30 am
Opening COO Keynote Panel: Operations of the future: Key initiatives for COOs to prioritise and how to deliver the vision.
Mariam Osman -
COO,
Blackrock
John Marsland -
Independent Consultant & Former COO Investment,
Schroders
Marcel Prins -
Chief Operating Officer,
Robeco
Fiona Horsewill -
Global Head of Data and Digital,
Citi Securities Service
- How can you drive greater innovation across your division and create a more agile set-up to better execute your digital transformation strategies?
- How can you identify and implement scalable technology solutions to modernise your operations division and drive cost reduction?
- What are the benefits of moving towards service-based and value-driven practices by utilizing maturing innovative digital solutions?
- How can you embrace a digital-first culture to transform internal processes and become truly client-centric to increase revenue and market share?
9:30 am - 10:10 am
Panel Discussion: Moving towards zero manual set up: How can you leverage the latest innovations to automate repetitive tasks across your front to back office and focus your team on key business activities?
Lou Rosato -
Investment Operations, Global Business Strategy and Relationship Management,
BlackRock
Sean Kennedy -
Head of Investment Operations EMEA,
Vanguard
Martin Kwiatkowski -
Investments COO,
abrdn
Michael Paterson -
COO Investments,
Mediolanum International Funds Limited (MIFL)
Chad Erwin -
SVP, Global Head of Asset Owners/Allocators,
Backstop Solutions
Paul Sinthunont -
Senior Analyst,
Aite-Novarica Group
- How can you successfully implement RPA to increase efficiencies and lower operating costs of your day-to-day operations?
- How can you deploy automation tools alongside your existing technology infrastructure to plug capability gaps and optimize performance?
- How can low-touch tech help your investment operations division better adapt to and remain compliant with, the latest market regulations?
- How to utilise analytics tools to improve client onboarding processes and provide a greater level of service
- What is the best way to scale automated processes across your operations function to free up your team’s time and enable them to focus on high-value tasks for the business?
Lou Rosato
Investment Operations, Global Business Strategy and Relationship ManagementBlackRock
10:10 am - 10:35 am
Innovation Interview: Applying advanced analytics: How can you apply advanced analytics across your front to back, cross-asset operations to drive smarter decision making?
Ruchir Verma -
Global Head of Services, Investment Management,
Zurich Insurance
Chandni Bhan -
Head of UK Risk,
Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Virginie O'Shea -
Founder & CEO,
Firebrand Research
- How can you integrate advanced data analytics to overcome pain points in your legacy infrastructure?
- How can you integrate ML models into your current infrastructure to automate daily tasks and support growth initiatives whilst remaining compliant?
- How can you balance human input and automation to run an efficient streamlined investment operations division?
- How can you apply AI to best process and analyse your trade data and simplify post-trade operational processes?
10:35 am - 11:10 am
Networking Break and Energy Boost Brunch
If you’re a savoury snacker or have a sweet tooth, we’ve got you covered
with our delicious buffet brunch.
Don’t forget to get social with our LinkedIn competition for the chance to win an
Amazon Echo Dot, Kindle or Apple Airpods.
10:35 am - 11:10 am
Buy Side Only Workshop: How can small and mid-size asset managers leverage new trends in outsourcing and developments in technology to create a high-performing operations function and remain competitive?
Simon Hooper -
Managing Partner,
Hosking Partners
OPTIMISING YOUR OPERATING MODEL
11:10 am - 11:50 am
360 Panel: Achieving the optimum outsourcing mix: How can you leverage end-to-end outsourcing solutions to efficiently meet increasing data governance, risk management and business growth demands post-pandemic?
Sinisa Vacic -
VP Fund Operations,
Capital Group
Marco Di Palma -
Head of Commercial Operations,
JP Morgan Asset Management
Lydia Buttinger -
Global Head of Shared Services, Risk and Compliance,
abrdn
Darren Johnson -
COO,
Impax Asset Management
Sam Meddick -
Global Head of Managed Services, Enterprise Solutions,
S&P Global Market Intelligence
John Lehner -
President,
FundGuard
- How can you best partner with your 3rd party providers to maintain oversight and a certain level of control to ensure compliance amidst the latest regulatory updates?
- How can outsourcing certain processes improve efficiency, compliance and operational resiliency?
- In-house vs outsourced: How can you determine which processes will benefit most from outsourcing whilst delivering more predictable and lower operational costs?
- How has remote and hybrid working environments driven the demand for outsourcing to maintain transparency and robust governance?
- How can you ensure you are managing regulatory requirements efficiently and cost-effectively in an outsourced world?
Sam Meddick
Global Head of Managed Services, Enterprise SolutionsS&P Global Market Intelligence
11:50 am - 12:10 pm
CHATHAM HOUSE RULES: Innovation Keynote Interview: Optimizing investment outcomes through operational efficiency
David Strevens -
EMEA Head of Buyside Enterprise Sales,
Bloomberg L.P.
Virginie O'Shea -
Founder & CEO,
Firebrand Research
FUTURE-PROOFING YOUR OPERATIONS
12:10 pm - 12:45 pm
All Star Panel: Building a next-gen operating model: How can you capitalise on new tech to implement an agile, high performing and resilient operating model that best responds to new regulations and the latest investment trends?
Krzysztof Wierzchowski -
VP, Securities Services,
Franklin Templeton Investments
Zeynep Madeiros -
Head of Investment Operations Service, Europe,
Vanguard
Danielle Johnston -
Director, European Operations,
Principal Global Investors
Barry Noonan -
CIO,
Mediolanum International Funds Limited (MIFL)
Attar Sokhal -
Head of Middle Office EMEA,
American Century
Virginie O'Shea -
Founder & CEO,
Firebrand Research
- What will the operations division look like by 2030 and how can you prepare for it today?
- How can you identify and leverage upcoming trends to gain a competitive edge?
- How can you transform processes and better support your people with new tech to optimise your function whilst being cost-efficient?
- How can you best evaluate and identify emerging technology to support the increasing trend from active to passive investing?
12:45 pm - 1:05 pm
Innovation Keynote: Reinventing the middle office for better governance and control of ESG data, risk management and compliance
Lou Rosato -
Investment Operations, Global Business Strategy and Relationship Management,
BlackRock
Gabino Roche -
CEO & Founder,
Saphyre
Hardeep Nota -
Executive Director,
Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Virginie O'Shea -
Founder & CEO,
Firebrand Research
1:05 pm - 1:25 pm
Keynote: Optimising people, process and tech to achieve sustainable differentiation, value and growth
Neil Vernon -
CTO,
Gresham
Your customers now have instant, near real-time access to their data. They know what you’re doing – or should be – with their money – and when. In some cases, they spot errors before you do.
In short: There’s nowhere to hide.
Join Gresham’s CTO Neil Vernon to discover how digitisation is changing operations for the investment industry, what this means for your business and your customers, and how you can make it work to your advantage.
1:25 pm - 2:45 pm
Lunch Networking Break
Network with your industry peers and make valuable new contracts during our lunch break in the buzzing exhibition hall.
We’ve done all the legwork in bringing you relevant hand-picked solution providers under one roof, so you can conveniently meet and evaluate each of them to decide who is best placed to meet your top priorities and overcome current challenges.
1:25 pm - 2:25 pm
Workshop: Optimising the withholding tax recovery process
Paul Sprenger -
Head of Strategy and Sales – Europe,
WTax
Jashil Makan -
Global Sales Director,
WTax
- Are you utilising all reclaim methodologies in all possible jurisdictions? This would include ‘non-standard’ markets as well as European Court of Justice claims.
- Is your back-office team keeping up with the administrative burden of the withholding tax recovery process?
- Do you have oversight of your current withholding tax recovery efforts?
TRACK A EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGIES
2:45 pm - 3:05 pm Interview Overcoming legacy IT challenges: How can you seamlessly introduce new technologies into your existing architecture to achieve a scalable, cost-efficient end-to-end operations function? Mahesh Narayan - Institutional Asset Managers Segment Head, Arcesium Virginie O'Shea - Founder & CEO, Firebrand Research- How can you create an implementation roadmap to break down the complexity of adopting and scaling new technology?
- How to create a clear institutional vision and well-defined use cases to overcome hurdles in adoption of new processes and technologies?
- Breaking down the complexity of technology implementation: how can you overcome challenges in adopting new innovations, including AI, cybersecurity and cloud to improve operational efficiency?
TRACK A EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGIES
3:05 pm - 3:35 pm Fireside Chat: Advanced collateral management: How can you implement new tools that optimise your increasing use of collateral in local and global markets? Jarno Bostelaar - COO, Cardano Investments Lia Oyman - Senior Manager of Derivatives and Emerging Assets, Franklin Templeton Joe Midmore - Chief Commercial Officer, OpenGamma Virginie O'Shea - Founder & CEO, Firebrand Research- Which technologies are best placed to enable collateral optimisation and streamline your operational processes?
- How will automation help achieve scalability and master your growing collateral obligations?
- How can you eliminate internal communication barriers with front office to minimize risk and errors when it comes to securities?
- Where should you set-up your collateral team within the firm to bring the most value?
- How to use securities lending to receive additional collateral and boost revenue?
- What new infrastructure is required for securities lending?
TRACK A EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGIES
3:35 pm - 3:55 pm Fireside Chat: Innovation Keynote Interview: Voice of the customer initiatives: How can you create a feedback loop to ensure your front office is receiving the data and services they require to improve performance? Thomas Vinding - COO, Investments and Global Head of Trading, Nordea Asset Management Evan Fire - COO, Pzena Investment Management Zeynep Madeiros - Head of Investment Operations Service, Europe, Vanguard Virginie O'Shea - Founder & CEO, Firebrand Research- How can you implement reconciliation automation tools such as RPA to reduce the heavy lifting of manual processes and streamline internal processes to achieve greater operational efficiencies?
- Reducing human error: Which analytics tools are best placed to help you automate data aggregation, integration and correction processes at scale?
- How to adopt and scale advanced reconciliation solutions to ensure accurate reporting and regulatory compliance
- Reconciliation as a Service: How can you identify who is best paced to outsource your reconciliation processes to and boost efficiencies and accuracy at pace?
TRACK B PREPARING FOR NEW REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
2:45 pm - 3:05 pm Interview: Aligning UK, EU and US regulation: How can you streamline internal processes to cost efficiently meet new cross-border regulatory requirements? Sean Kennedy - Head of Investment Operations EMEA, Vanguard Roy Saadon - CEO and Co-Founder, AccessFintech John Lund - Buy Side Derivatives, Collateral Management Specialist- How will the EU regulation landscape impact your US operations?
- CSDR: how can you prepare for the postponement of the CSDR RTS settlement discipline in 2022?
- How can you identify the risks associated with the transition and what steps should you put in place to mitigate these?
TRACK B PREPARING FOR NEW REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
3:05 pm - 3:35 pm Interactive Interview: OTC derivatives reforms 2.0: How can you best prepare for the latest trading, clearing, collateral and reporting requirements to meet the 2022 UMR deadline? Christian Brønd Måhrbeck - Head of Derivatives Operations and Deputy Head of Back Office, Nordea Asset Management Kah Yang Chong - TradeNeXus Business Development, TradeNeXus John Lund - Buy Side Derivatives, Collateral Management Specialist- The SEC regulatory reporting went live in late 2021 and CFTC due later in 2022. What are buy-side firms’ obligations?
- Preparing for the final ‘phase 6’ deadline of initial margin for non-cleared derivatives: How can buy-side firms get ready and avail services?
- What impact will the final UMR phase have on your bottom line and operating costs?
- What are the latest changes to trading, clearing and reporting and how can you automate these processes as the key pillars of derivatives updates?
Christian Brønd Måhrbeck
Head of Derivatives Operations and Deputy Head of Back OfficeNordea Asset Management
TRACK C BUY SIDE ONLY BOARDROOMS
2:45 pm - 3:45 pm Buy Side Boardroom: Leading through transformation: How to develop an effective transformation strategy that maximises operational output in the short term whilst developing capabilities to guarantee future success. James Kearney - Global Head of Investment Operations, Vanguard Alain Mandy - Managing Director and Chief Transformation Officer, Wellington Management Funds Global Paul Sinthunont - Senior Analyst, Aite-Novarica Group
3:55 pm - 4:20 pm
Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea Party Networking Break
Join our Mad Hatters scavenger hunt, by visiting exhibitor booths such as Cassini Systems, Saphyre, Backstop Solutions and Fundguard to scan the QR code placed at their booth, each code will collect points and the person with the most points wins. QR codes can also be found around other spots in the exhibition hall during the afternoon tea break. Prizes include an Amazon Echo Dot with Clock and Meross Smart Plug, English bottle of Gin, Airpods, a Non-Fungible Token and a Hotel Chocolat gift bag!
TRACK A LEVERAGING DATA INNOVATIONS
4:20 pm - 5:00 pm Panel Discussion: Meeting rising ESG data expectations: How can you successfully acquire, store, and deliver ESG data to your stakeholders to enable more informed investment decisions? Liz Lawson - Principal Business Analyst, T. Rowe Price Aria Goudarzi - SVP Head of Strategic Analytics and Data, Nikko Asset Management Gaurav Aggarwal - Head of Product and CCO, Indus Valley Partners Don Huff - Global Head of Client Services and Operations, Bloomberg Data Management Services Carmen Nuzzo - Head of Fixed Income, Principles for Responsible Investment- How can you incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance factors into your operating model to diversify your portfolio?
- How can you manage data, technology, systems, and tools to enable sustainable investing practices?
- How to leverage a technology system that processes relevant high-quality information adaptably, cheaply, and efficiently with security and resilience?
- What is the current state of play on ESG data regulation and how can the buy side best navigate fast-evolving regulatory framework?
Gaurav Aggarwal
Head of Product and CCOIndus Valley Partners
TRACK C BUY SIDE ONLY BOARDROOMS
4:20 pm - 5:15 pm Buy Side Boardroom: Assessing the future of work: How can you build an agile hybrid working model that enables your team to operate at the optimum level? Hans Steyaert - Global Head of Operations Services, BNP Paribas Asset Management Chris Taylor - COO, CG Asset Management Evan Fire - COO, Pzena Investment Management- What does the future hybrid workplace look like for the middle office?
- What tools are needed to support a hybrid workplace and trading workflows?
- How can cloud-based workflow solutions support the future hybrid workplace model?
- What are the latest advancements in collaboration tools, organisational time management, office workspace and sharing?
5:00 pm - 5:00 pm
End of Day One
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
InvestOps Carnival Party Drinks Reception
