Talking Climate and Sustainability

Luba leads the more than 100 strong global research function at Willis Towers Watson's Investment business that is responsible for conducting economic and capital markets research, evaluating asset management firms in a variety of different asset classes, coming up with investment recommendations and creating new investment solutions where there is demand from asset owners but no solutions exist.

Luba started her career in 1996 in Russia where she was involved in a number of private equity transactions at the time of the large-scale privatisation and business restructuring in Eastern Europe. She also owned her own timber business in Russia.

Luba is a non-executive director of the Investor Forum, a not-for-profit organisation with the purpose of positioning stewardship at the heart of investment decision making.

Marisa is co-head of the Thinking Ahead Institute, a global not-for-profit investment research network focussed on mobilising capital for a sustainable future. The Institute’s membership includes more than 50 of the world’s largest asset owners and asset managers with combined responsibility for over USD$12 trillion. Prior to joining the Institute, Marisa was a Senior Investment Consultant in Willis Towers Watson’s advisory business.

Marisa is on the standing committee of Investment 20/20 which focuses on attracting diverse talent into the industry and is also on the steering committee of #talkaboutblack, a powerful movement that aims to improve the conversation on ethnic diversity. This falls under the UK wide industry initiative, The Diversity Project.

Marisa is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (FIA) and holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC). She has a MSc (Distinction) from CASS Business School, London and a first-class degree in Mathematics from the University of the West Indies. She was named on the 2020 list of Financial News' Rising Stars of Asset Management in Europe, was winner of ‘Woman of the Year’ in the 2020 Women in Finance Summit & Awards Series and is on the 2021 Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) roll call of thought leaders in the category of ‘actuaries changing mindsets’.

Matt is a Senior Director of the Climate and Resilience Hub and leads on climate policy, financial regulation and green finance. He brings more than two decades of experience at the intersection of climate, finance and sustainable business. Matt played an integral role in the development of the Bank of England’s climate work, including creating the formative physical, transition and liability framework for climate-related risks, and led the development and launch of the UK Government’s Green Finance Strategy, published in July 2019.

Before entering financial regulation in 2010, Matt began his career in science and, as a social entrepreneur, delivered solar lighting to off-grid villages in emerging markets.

Carlos Sanchez is a Climate Resilience Investment Director at Willis Towers Watson. His work focuses on the integration of physical climate risks in asset valuation and investment decision-making processes. Carlos is also the Executive Director for the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment (CCRI). A flagship COP26 initiative, CCRI is led by the private sector and has a growing membership of 90+ institutions committed to the development and testing of solutions for resilient investment decision-making.

Additionally, Carlos has been appointed member of the State of California’s State of California has launched the Climate-Related Risk Disclosure Advisory Group, and vice-Chair of CFA UK’s Climate and Investing Certification Panel.

Paula Pagniez is Director of the Climate and Resilience Hub at Willis Towers Watson. She leads the America’s Practice for the firm, based in New Jersey, USA.
Paula creates solutions to large scale and multi-faceted challenges, working hand in hand with clients and partners across physical, transition and liability climate risks and pioneering innovative uses of insurance mechanisms to build societal resilience.

Paula is a global expert on climate and natural disaster risk management solutions for sovereigns, sub-sovereigns, corporates, and the development sector. She has a proven track record spearheading global financial inclusion and humanitarian initiatives and conceiving of and executing strategic international business.

Rowan is Head of the Climate and Resilience Hub (CRH), building on leadership on these themes for over a decade. Previously he served on the Board of Willis Re as CEO Global Analytics and founded the Willis Research Network in 2006. In 2014 he established the Capital Science and Policy Practice to apply Willis Towers Watson's expertise on resilience into wider sectors and support the Company’s growing leadership on climate, resilience and finance which grew into the CRH.

Beyond Willis Towers Watson, he founded the Insurance Development Forum in 2015 with industry, United Nations and World Bank leaders and served on The UK Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology 2011-2015. In 2016 he was made CBE for services to the economy through risk, insurance and sustainable growth.

John Haley is currently the CEO and a Director of Willis Towers Watson and is the Chair of the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. John has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Rutgers College and studied under a Fellowship at the Graduate School of Mathematics at Yale University.