GRI Summit 2022 – Speakers
Sonia Baxendale
President and CEO, Global Risk Institute
Sonia Baxendale is a highly respected executive who has more than 20 years’ experience in senior leadership roles in the financial services industry. Ms. Baxendale serves on the Board of Directors for a number of Canadian and international corporate and not-for-profit organizations. As the President and CEO of GRI, Ms. Baxendale leads the premier risk management organization for the financial services industry globally.
In this role, Ms. Baxendale brings together leaders from industry, academia and government to focus on emerging risk management issues. The global pandemic has brought to the forefront a confluence of domestic and global concerns – geopolitical tensions, climate change, systemic racism, social and economic disparities. Under Ms. Baxendale’s leadership, GRI has stepped up to develop strategic research and education. She has brought together experts from across the country and the globe to focus on long-term, sustainable solutions for Canada’s economic recovery.
In addition to her role with GRI, Ms. Baxendale is a Director on the Board of Laurentian Bank, Foresters Financial, RSA Group PLC, and The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited. She is Chair of the Board of SickKids Foundation and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Hospital for Sick Children.
Prior to joining GRI, Ms. Baxendale was President of CIBC Retail Markets where she led Retail and Wealth Management businesses. Ms. Baxendale played a key role in developing strategy and direction for CIBC and held various leadership roles including Senior Executive Vice-President, CIBC Wealth Management, Executive Vice-President, Asset Management, Card Products and Collections, and Executive Vice-President of Global Private Banking and Investment Management Services. Prior to CIBC, Ms. Baxendale held various positions with American Express Canada and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Ms. Baxendale is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she was named University of Toronto, Victoria College Alumni of Distinction in 2017. She was named one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada” for three years in a row and then joined the ranks of the Top 100 Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2000, she was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.
Mark Hughes
Chair, Global Risk Institute
Mark Hughes is the chair of the Global Risk Institute. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of UBS Group AG as well as the chair of the Risk Committee. Previously, he was the Group Chief Risk Officer of Royal Bank of Canada and retired in 2018 after 37 years with RBC.
He serves on the boards of a number of industry associations and not-for-profit organizations. Mr. Hughes is also a Senior Advisor with McKinsey & Co associated with the risk practice and he is a frequent lecturer at Universities of Leeds and Manchester in England.
Vanda Vicars
Chief Operating Officer, Global Risk Institute
Vanda Vicars is Chief Operating Officer at the Global Risk Institute in Financial Services since 2019 where she leads strategy development and execution for member services, events and education, marketing, communications, and corporate services.
A respected C-Suite executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Sector, Ms. Vicars has held senior roles at leading organizations including CEO, Canada Infrastructure Services, Capgemini; President Capgemini Canada; Senior Vice President of ICT Solutions, Bell Canada; and IBM where she held various mandates in the Global Services organization leading operational teams servicing Canada’s largest institutions in the areas of Technical Support and IT and Network Outsourcing.
Ms. Vicars oversees the cyber risk file at GRI working with researchers and delivering Board level education on the topic of cyber security oversight. Over the course of her career, she has led teams delivering project and cyber services to the financial sector and various government entities.
Ms. Vicars is currently on the Quantum-Safe Canada Governing Board and is the Corporate Secretary for the Global Risk Institute. She has served as a corporate director on the boards of Bell Capital Markets Solutions, Createch, and Capgemini Canada.
An advocate for women in the ICT sector, Ms. Vicars has served as an executive coach, mentor, and public speaker on the topic. She was instrumental in launching networking and development programs for women at Bell Canada and IBM. She also served on the board of Canadian Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) for 9 years.
Ms. Vicars holds a BBA, Management Science from Bishop’s University. In 2009, she participated in the Fellows program of the International Women’s Foundation (IWF) at Harvard’s Business School (US) and the Changes in Global Leadership Program at Cambridge’s Judge Business School (UK). She completed the Director’s Education Program at University of Toronto (2018) and holds the ICD.D designation.
Navigating the U.S. - Canada Relationship
Rana Foroohar
Global Economic Analyst, Financial Times, Columnist
Global Business Columnist at The Financial Times and Global Economic Analyst at CNN Rana Foroohar covers the intersection of business, economics, politics, and foreign affairs. Foroohar frequently profiles movers and shakers in finance and business, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gross, Howard Shultz, Mary Barra, and Carl Icahn. Her book, Don’t Be Evil: How Big Tech Betrayed Its Founding Principles — And All Of Us (2019) “presents a sweeping indictment of technology companies and their reach into every aspect of our lives” (The New York Times).
A sought-after commentator for her high-level yet accessible analysis, Foroohar speaks on the shifts occurring in globalization, the political economy, and the digital economy. She draws from her weekly column to offer real-time analyses on emerging markets, women in the workplace, education, and the disruption of big tech. She has chaired panel discussions with world leaders, intellectuals, and economists at the World Economic Forum and elsewhere, including a Harvard Business School program on improving U.S. competitiveness.
With FT Editor Edward Luce, Foroohar writes the twice-weekly newsletter “Swamp Notes,” which covers money and power in Trump’s America and the big themes driving politics, business, and markets. She recently appeared in the Frontline documentary, Left Behind America, about Dayton, Ohio’s struggle to recover in the post-recession economy.
The former Economics Columnist and Assistant Managing Editor for TIME, Foroohar has penned numerous cover stories and essays on China and the next global recession, Europe’s economic crisis, and the rise of “localnomics” means for American business.
For 13 years, Foroohar served as the deputy editor in charge of international business and economics for Newsweek and headed up coverage for the annual Davos special issue. She spent six years as Newsweek’s European correspondent based in London, covering business news throughout Europe and the Middle East.
Foroohar’s first book, Makers and Takers, was a finalist for the 2016 FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.
In 2019, Foroohar was awarded a SABEW award for her tech and policy coverage at the Financial Times. The recipient of awards and fellowships from institutions such as the Johns Hopkins School of International Affairs and the East West Center, Foroohar is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Looking through the Regulators' Lens
Peter Routledge
Superintendent, Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions
Peter Routledge was appointed Superintendent of Financial Institutions in June 2021, for a seven-year term.
He previously served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) beginning in November 2018. While at CDIC, Mr. Routledge led a successful transformation of CDIC’s culture, strategy, and technology vision. Mr. Routledge has extensive experience in Canada’s financial sector. Prior to joining CDIC, he was a Senior Advisor at the Department of Finance where he provided advice on a range of policy issues including financial stability, housing finance, and competition in Canadian financial services.
Mr. Routledge has held a variety of leadership roles in the financial services industry, both in Canada and abroad. He served as managing director of research at National Bank Financial, where he led a team responsible for producing equity, fixed income, and derivatives research on Canadian financial institutions. Prior to that, Mr. Routledge led the Canadian Financial Institutions Group at Moody’s Canada, with responsibilities for covering issuers in the banking, life insurance, personal and commercial insurance and reinsurance industries in Canada and the United States.
Mr. Routledge holds an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a bachelor’s degree in business and economics from Simon Fraser University.
Grant Vingoe
Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Securities Commission
A senior leader and trusted adviser for regulatory agencies and clients, and seasoned adjudicator, with cross-border expertise and deep knowledge of financial markets. Strong consensus builder with governments, securities administrators and international bodies. Builds high performing multi-disciplinary professional teams.
Currently Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Securities Commission following a 25-year career as a securities law practitioner.
Legal Experience prior to joining the Ontario Securities Commission:
– Cross-border securities transactions and financial services regulation, including regulatory policy matters for the Canadian securities industry.
– Representation of issuers and underwriters in public offerings and private placements, including in the natural resource and financial services sectors.
– Establishment of financial services firms and continuing advice concerning their operations.
– Trusted advisor concerning compliance, governance, and risk management issues for securities firms and other industry organizations.
– Trusted advisor to senior management of investment banks, international stock exchanges and self-regulatory organizations concerning regulatory policy and cross-border business initiatives.
– Leading efforts to promote regulatory reforms and remove barriers to cross-border securities transactions with government officials in Canada and the United States.
– Specialized knowledge of market regulation.
Mark White
Chief Executive Officer, Financial Services Regulatory Authority
An experienced regulatory and financial sector leader with deep expertise in regulation, risk management, governance, law, finance, change management and process improvement. Focused on strategy, execution and understanding and meeting the needs of diverse stakeholders. Proven strategic and operational skills, and a strong track record of progressive leadership, innovation and organization building.
Grappling with Geopolitics
Janice Stein
Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science and Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto.
Janice Gross Stein is the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science and the Founding Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was the Massey Lecturer in 2001 and a Trudeau Fellow. She was awarded the Molson Prize by the Canada Council for an outstanding contribution by a social scientist to public debate. She has received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from four universities and is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario. In 2022, she co-Chaired the National Advisory Committee on Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Evolving the Future of Money
Mike Cook
Global Payments Leader, IBM
Helping North American Banks and FIs capitalize on the use of Analytics, Cloud and Omni-Channel service delivery to deliver transformational customer experiences.
Jonas Gross
Chair, Digital Euro Association
Dr. Jonas Gross is Chairman of the Digital Euro Association (DEA) and Head of Digital Assets and Currencies at etonec. Jonas holds a PhD in economics from the University of Bayreuth, Germany. His main fields of interest are central bank digital currencies, stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, and monetary policy. Further, Jonas is co-host of the German podcast “Bitcoin, Fiat, & Rock’n’ Roll” and member of the expert panel of the European Blockchain Observatory and Forum.
Timothy Lane
Deputy Governor, Bank of Canada (retired)
As member of the Bank’s Governing Council, share responsibility for decisions with respect to monetary policy and financial system stability, and for setting the strategic direction of the Bank. Member of Bank of Canada Pension Committee since 2009.
Since July 2018, oversee the Bank’s funds management and currency functions–notably including the Bank’s ongoing research and analysis of developments in financial technology, crypto-assets and digital currencies. Member of WP3 at OECD. From May 2014 through July 2018, responsible for overseeing the Bank’s analysis of international economic developments in support of monetary policy decisions. Member of G-20, G-7 and IMFC Central Bank Deputies groups as well as WP3 at OECD.
From May 2010 through April 2014, responsible for overseeing the Bank’s analysis and activities in promoting a stable and efficient financial system, particularly with regard to financial markets. Member of Committee on Global Financial System and Markets Committee (CGFS) at BIS. Chaired CGFS working groups on Central Bank Operating Frameworks and Collateral Markets (2015); and The Macrofinancial Implications of Alternative Configurations of Access to Central Counterparties in OTC Derivatives Markets (2011). From February 2009 through April 2010, responsible for overseeing the Bank’s analysis of the Canadian economy in support of monetary policy decisions.
Breakout Session 1 - Model Risk
Geoffrey Hancock
SVP, Actuarial Pricing & Strategic Research, RGA
Geoffrey Hancock joined RGA in early 2021 and serves as SVP, Actuarial Pricing & Strategic Research. He has responsibility for RGA’s corporate pricing framework, global actuarial pricing standards and innovation, strategic research, experience studies & analytics and Moody’s Analytics AXIS pricing software implementation.
Prior to RGA, Geoff was President & CEO of Caliper Ridge, Inc. – a financial services consulting firm based in Toronto providing advice to insurance companies on a range of issues including balance sheet management, portfolio/product optimization and risk frameworks. From 2003 to 2013, Geoffrey was a Partner in Oliver Wyman’s insurance practice, serving clients in the global financial services industry on risk and strategy issues. He also managed Oliver Wyman’s ATLAS commercial software business. Prior to Oliver Wyman, Geoff was a Principal in the Risk, Finance & Insurance practice at Mercer Consulting. From fall 2010 to mid-2011, Mr. Hancock served as EVP and Chief Risk Officer of Aviva North America.
Geoff has over 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA), a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA). He holds an Honours Co-operative Bachelor of Mathematics with a double major in actuarial science and statistics from the University of Waterloo. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and has served on several professional committees. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, running, alpine skiing and training his rescued Catahoula Leopard Dog, Jasper.
Romana Mizdrak
Managing Director at Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions
Romana Mizdrak is a Managing Director of Model Risk Division at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. With over 18 years in the financial services sector in Toronto, Romana has worked in various technical roles related to model risk management including quantitative analysis, risk monitoring, and model validation. In her current role, Romana leads team responsible for review and approval of regulatory capital models, assessment of model risk at the enterprise level, and industry-wide risks and/or sector specific trends and developments related to model risks and use of advanced analytics. Romana holds a M.A. in Mathematics and Statistics from York University of Toronto,
and a Graduate Diploma in Financial Engineering, also from York University.
Dr. Alexander Shipilov
CEO, iModX - International Model Exchange
Strong leadership, business development, management and communication skills, combined with a talent for effective decisions and a deep insight into the corporate governance, risk management and audit functions, provides a proven track record in delivering practical business solutions. Over 25 years of experience gained inside the Financial Services Industry, FinTech, consulting in corporate governance, risk management, compliance and audit. Frequent risk management conference speaker and course teacher.
Michael Stramaglia
Executive in Residence, Global Risk Institute
Michael Stramaglia was appointed as the Global Risk Institute’s first Executive in Residence in January 2014. He is the President and Founder of Matrisc Advisory Group Inc. (a risk management consulting firm) and serves as Program Director for the SEEC Centre of Excellence in Governance, Risk Management and Control at the Schulich School of Business.
Michael Stramaglia was appointed as the Global Risk Institute’s first Executive in Residence in January 2014. He is the President and Founder of Matrisc Advisory Group Inc. (a risk management consulting firm) and serves as Program Director for the SEEC Centre of Excellence in Governance, Risk Management and Control at the Schulich School of Business.
He is currently an independent corporate director for the Equitable Bank, the Economical Insurance Group, Foresters Financial and Munich Re Canada. He also serves as an independent member of the Province of Ontario Internal Audit Committee.
Mr. Stramaglia has over 30 years of professional and leadership experience, including over 10 years with Sun Life Financial (SLF) where he served as a member of the International Executive Team and led the development of one of the insurance industry’s leading ERM practices as Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer for SLF’s global operations. He joined SLF in 2002 following its acquisition of Clarica, where Mr. Stramaglia held the position of Executive Vice-President and Chief Investment Officer and was also head of the International Reinsurance Business. Prior to joining Clarica, Mr. Stramaglia worked for over 13 years with the Canadian operations of the worldwide Zurich Financial Services Group, where he held a number of senior executive positions including Chief Actuary, CFO and President & CEO of the Zurich Life Insurance Company of Canada.
He has also provided interim senior executive services, and his mandates in this area have included serving as Co-Interim President & CEO of an international life insurance and asset management organization and an extended consulting assignment serving as the acting Chief Risk Officer for one of Canada’s largest credit unions.
Mr. Stramaglia is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst. He holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and an Honours Bachelor of Mathematics Degree from the University of Waterloo.
Breakout Session 2 - Cyber Risk
Atefah (Atty) Mashatan
Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University)
Dr. Atefeh (Atty) Mashatan is the founder and director of the Cybersecurity Research Lab (CRL) at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and recognized as a leading expert in cryptography, blockchain technology, quantum-resistant solutions, enterprise security architecture and Internet-of-Things (IoT) security.
Professor Mashatan is holding a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Quality of Security (QoS) Framework for Internet-of-Things (IoT). She will address new threats that have arisen with the widespread adoption of IoT, create new security systems for these networks, and recommend best practices for users, technical audiences and policy-makers. Her CRC program is about enhancing the quality of security of smart yet small IoT devices in the specific context in which they are being deployed. The aim of this multidisciplinary research program is to make a solution as secure as possible, given the contextual parameters and limitations of its use-case.
Claudette McGowan
Global Executive Officer, Enterprise Protect Strategy & Product Office at TD / Phoenix Fire Angel
Claudette McGowan is a global information technology leader with more than 18 years of success leading digital transformations, optimizing infrastructure and designing new approaches that improve service experiences. She has worked in the technology industry for several organizations such as Deloitte, Metropolitan Police Services, North York General Hospital, Bank of Montreal and TD Bank. Claudette began her career at BMO in 2000 and held multiple senior leadership roles including Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Technology Employee Experience. In 2020, she joined TD Bank as Global Executive Officer for Cyber Security. In her spare time, Claudette writes books for children, builds robots and is the founder of the Black Arts & Innovation Expo. Claudette holds a Bachelor of Arts from Lakehead University and a Master of Business Administration from Athabasca University.
Breakout Session 3 - Digital Assets and the Future of Capital Markets
Andrew Kriegler
President and Chief Executive Officer, Investment Industry Regulatory
Andrew J. Kriegler will be the inaugural CEO of the self-regulatory organization to be formed on January 1, 2023 through the amalgamation of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA). Andrew has served as President and CEO of IIROC since late 2014.
Before coming to IIROC, Andrew served as Deputy Superintendent of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) where he was responsible for the prudential supervision of Canada’s federally regulated financial institutions. He also spent 25 years in the private sector, most recently as Treasurer of CIBC from 2008 to 2012, and earlier as Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer of Moody’s Corporation, parent of the credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service, where he had been the Country Managing Director.
Ryan Leopold
National Banking and Capital Markets Leader, PwC
Ryan Leopold leads PwC Canada’s Banking and Capital Markets Assurance practice, helping build trust in society for the past 22 years.
He has a passion for advising clients in the area of credit risk, working through complex IFRS 9 modelling challenges, sharing insights gained throughout the PwC global network. Ryan authors a quarterly IFRS 9 benchmarking study and is also an active member of OSFI’s Deposit-Taking-Institutions Auditor Advisory Committee.
Over the past 5 years, Ryan embarked on a crypto journey focused on bringing trust to this rapidly emerging space. From authoring guidance on crypto accounting to co-developing PwC’s Halo crypto solution, which is now the primary audit tool used on PwC’s crypto audits globally, he has been at the forefront of this sector. Ryan is an active collaborator with CPA Canada and CPAB, with the goal of continually enhancing audit quality, protecting Canadian investors in the process. Beyond assurance, Ryan has also supported crypto entities through a number of transactions, assessing tax, accounting and control environment risks, along with providing financial and custodial due diligence services.
Andreas Park
Professor of Finance, University of Toronto
Andreas Park is a Professor of Finance at the University of Toronto, appointed to the Rotman School of Management and the Department of Management at UTM. He currently serves as the Research Director at the FinHub, Rotman’s Financial Innovation Lab. He previously served as a lab economist for the Blockchain stream at the Creative Destruction Lab, and as a consultant and advisor to various FIs, regulators, and blockchain projects. He was recently awarded the Canadian Securities Institute’s Limit-Term Professorship. Andreas teaches courses on payments innovation, decentralized finance, and financial market trading, and his current research focuses on the economic impact of technological transformations such as blockchain technology. He recently co-authored a design proposal for a central-bank issued digital currency, commissioned by the Bank of Canada.
Lois Tullo
Executive in Residence, Global Risk Institute
Lois Tullo has been an Executive in Residence since January 2017. She is a Canadian expert in the research and management of non-financial risk. She is CRO & CCO at Novera Capital Inc. Novera Capital is a Virtual Currency capital firm focusing in the area of providing liquidity to the market through synthetic derivatives. She has been teaching risk management and financial services at the Schulich School of Business for the past 22 years at the executive, MBA, and undergraduate level.
She is the author of “Back to the Future: 2007 to 2030”, “The Global Risks and Trends Framework” and “Risk Management – Canadian Best Practices, How did they get there?” Schulich has awarded her the John Peace Prize for outstanding contribution to teaching.
Ms. Tullo was previously CRO & CCO at Smart Contracts Capital Inc. and BlockMine Development Inc. SSC/BMD was developing a blockchain platform to issue Regulated Security Tokens (STO’s). She was CFO at CIBC Finance Inc, responsible for Finance, Treasury, HR and interim risk management. Director of HR, Finance and Business Process Redesign at Unitel Communications. She was a management consultant at Nolan, Norton Canada/KPMG where she consulted on the link between business strategy and information technology architecture. Ms. Tullo worked in Ethiopia with Food for the Hungry, a relief and development organization. At TCPL, she provided systems design and data analysis.
Ms. Tullo is a CPA, C.A. and she articled with Clarkson Gordon Toronto (E&Y) and PWC in Calgary, she has an EMBA from Ivey School of Business, a B.Comm from the University of Saskatchewan, and holds her C.C.O and ICD.D designations. Ms. Tullo is currently the Chair of Urban Promise, JLT & Associates, vice chair of The Richview Residence Foundation, and a former board director for Jameson Bank, The Boulevard Club, and the Girl Guides of Canada.
Assessing Risk in an Uncertain World
Suzanne Aker
Chief Risk Officer, AIMCo
Suzanne Akers joined AIMCo in April 2022 and oversees the Investment Risk and Enterprise Risk functions. She also serves as Chief Compliance Officer.
Prior to joining AIMCo, Ms. Akers most recently served as Co-Head of Franklin Templeton’s Investment Risk Management Group, responsible for FT Equity, Balanced, and Fixed Income strategies globally.
Ms. Akers holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, and an MBA from Stanford University where she was an Arjay Miller scholar. She holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a Certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM).
Graeme Hepworth
Chief Risk Officer, RBC
As Chief Risk Officer, Graeme oversees the strategic management of risk on an enterprise-wide basis. He is a member of Group Executive, which sets the overall strategic direction of RBC. He was appointed Chief Risk Officer in 2018.
Graeme joined RBC in 1997 as an analyst in Group Risk Management, focusing on foreign exchange products. In 2001, he took on the role of Vice President for GRM’s Portfolio Management team focused on loan portfolio risk analysis, economic capital and policy. Graeme moved to New York in 2004 to become Head of Market Risk for the Capital Markets trading businesses in the U.S. In 2011, Graeme moved to London to take on the role as Chief Risk Officer for Europe & Asia.
Most recently, Graeme was EVP, Retail & Commercial Credit Risk, where he led a number of teams that provide the primary risk management support to RBC’s Insurance, Wealth Management and Personal and Commercial Banking (P&CB) businesses.
Graeme is a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst and has a Masters in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo
Rahim Hirji
Manulife
Rahim Hirji is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and Global Leadership Team and is responsible for the Company’s Enterprise Risk Management framework, including the independent oversight of risks across the organization.
Prior to his appointment in 2011 as Chief Risk Officer, Mr. Hirji was the Chief Financial Officer for the Canadian Division and previously headed Manulife’s Global Asset Liability Management Operations. He has also held various financial and actuarial roles in various operating divisions.
Mr. Hirji holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from University of Waterloo, is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, the Society of Actuaries, and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
Debating the Role of Financial Services in Advancing Sustainability
Tariq Fancy
Speaker
After working at the highest levels in ESG and sustainable investing, Tariq Fancy stunned Wall Street by speaking out on the greenwashing practices in the financial community. Following his explosive op-ed in USA Today, Tariq confirmed what many had suspected: greenwashing and deceptive marketing promises are rampant in what is touted as pro-environmental investing. Tariq has been featured in such media outlets as The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, The Independent, The Globe and Mail, Mother Jones, The Economist, Reuters, FT, MSNBC, ABC, among others.
Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Tariq Fancy began his career in Credit Suisse First Boston’s technology-sector investment banking group in Silicon Valley. In late 2003, he joined New York-based private equity firm MHR Fund Management, where he became the firm’s youngest partner. In 2018, BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, hired Tariq as Managing Director and first-ever Chief Investment Officer of Sustainable Investing.
Tariq now focuses on bringing free learning to children around the world through Rumie, his open, free, and award-winning low-cost technology approach. Rumie is a non-profit that uses affordable technology to make learning new skills as fun and easy as social media and is used in over 100 countries today. Rumie has been the subject of an in-depth Harvard Business School Case Study and won the Google Impact Challenge Canada.