Speakers
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Steven Bell Chief Economist EMEA
Steven is the Chief Economist EMEA for Columbia Threadneedle Investments.
Steven provides macroeconomic and strategy input, notably as part of asset allocation process for the multi asset solutions unit.
He joined F&F Asset management in 2013 which ultimately became Columbia Threadneedle, after seven years running a significant Global Macro hedge fund at GLC Ltd.. Before that, he spent 20 years at Deutsche Bank and predecessor companies as Global Chief Economist and Head of Global Markets Research.
Steven has economics degrees from the London School of Economics and Stanford University and started his career as an Economic Adviser at the UK Treasury. He prepares a popular weekly macro video podcast, appears regularly on TV and radio and has written numerous articles on finance and economics.
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Dominic Delaforce Head of UK Institutional Client Relationship Management
Dominic joined Columbia Threadneedle Investments in July 2019 as a Director in the UK Institutional Relationship Management team with over 30 years’ experience in the investment management industry. In 2022, Dominic was appointed Head of UK Institutional Client Relationship Management.
Prior to joining BMO, Dominic worked at Aberdeen Standard Investments where he had a similar role and acted as client director for a number of UK corporate and local government pension fund clients investing across all asset classes. Dominic joined Aberdeen in 2005 from Deutsche Asset Management (previously Morgan Grenfell Asset Management) where he had several roles including Client Director, Co-Head of Liability Driven Investment, Chief Operating Officer (Japan) and Fixed Income Fund Manager. Dominic has a BSc (Economics) from the London School of Economics.
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James Edwards Director, Institutional Business
James is a Director within the UK Institutional team with a particular focus on Corporate DB pension schemes. Prior to joining Columbia Threadneedle Investments in May 2018, James worked at BlackRock for 10 years as both an institutional client director and a fixed income product specialist, with a focus on global credit. James is a CFA Charterholder.
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Simon Bentley Managing Director, Head of UK Client Portfolio Management
Simon is Head of UK Client Portfolio Management, responsible for the investment outcome delivered to a range of our Investment Solutions clients. He focuses on our UK and Irish client base and has significant experience working with many pension and insurance clients of all sizes, implementing a range of LDI, fixed income and derivative based portfolios. Simon joined the group in 2011.
Previously Simon worked at UBS Global Asset Management and Insight Investment where he covered a range of asset classes, focusing in particular on derivative and fixed income mandates. He started his career at Lazard Asset Management. Simon holds a BEng in Manufacturing Engineering from Loughborough University.
