BOARD AND COMMITTEES

Hilary is a partner at KPMG UK, leading the ESG reporting practice. She advises companies on the implementation of voluntary and mandatory sustainability reporting. In that role she is responsible for building KPMG’s brand and voice in the market for sustainability reporting and shaping the direction of the firm’s vision for the future of reporting, with an emphasis on meeting investors’ information needs.  

Hilary is the Chair of the CFA UK Board. She has volunteered with CFA UK since 2013, having served on the Professionalism Steering Committee and Financial Reporting and Analysis Committee. She has also been involved in the value of the investment profession work, focusing on capital allocation. Hilary was appointed as treasurer from 2021, before being elected Chair in 2023. 

Hilary previously was PwC’s head of global investor engagement, managing the firm’s relationships with the investment community. Before that, she worked at the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), where she led their investor engagement programme and the fair value measurement project. She has a background in business and asset valuation. 

Sylvia Solomon, ASIP, has over 30 years of investment industry experience on the buy-side, in equities and sustainable investing. She spent 25 years managing a wide range of funds, including pensions, life funds, endowments, unit trusts and hedge funds at firms such as Baring Asset Management, Hermes Investment Management, Ennismore Fund Management and Equitile Investments. Sylvia has also enjoyed C-Suite roles at Alternative Investments boutiques and been responsible for the design and implementation of ESG integrated investment processes in a wide range of asset classes including private markets and trade finance.  

Sylvia is recipient of the 2022 CFA Inspirational Leader Award for Education. She serves as a CFA UK Board Director, Chairs the Society’s Examinations and Education Committee, and is a member of the Sustainability Committee. As Chair of the CFA UK Certificate in ESG Investing Panel, Sylvia was instrumental in leading practitioners in the design, development and launch of the Certificate in ESG Investing. This qualification is now under the auspices of the CFA Institute’s ESG Advisory Panel, of which Sylvia is a member. Sylvia was also a member of the CFA UK Certificate in Climate and Investing Panel responsible for developing the first professional qualification of its kind in the UK, which delivers the knowledge and skills required by investment professionals to understand climate as it relates to investing, and how to integrate climate change considerations into the investment process.  

Sylvia has served as a member of the PRI Global Policy Reference Group and is a member of the Alternative Investment Management Association’s Global Responsible Investment Committee. 

Gillian is the Founder and former Managing Director of Denny Ellison, an independent investment research and training company. Prior to this, she worked as an equity research analyst for several years at Putnam Investments and Insight Investment. She started her career as a management consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. She currently serves as a Non-Executive Director of Melrose Industries plc and International Biotechnology Trust plc. 

Gillian has extensive volunteering experience with the CFA UK. Her previous roles include Chair of the Networks Steering Committee, member of the Nominating Committee, Chair of the SIG Council, and Co-Chair of the Research Analysts Special Interest Group. She was awarded the CFA UK Volunteer of the Year Award in 2017. 

Gillian holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and MEng and BSc degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also an award-winning author. 

Elena is the Head of ESG Client Experience at BlueBay Asset Management, focusing on effectively articulating the firm’s ESG proposition with investors and working with investment teams to communicate their ESG integration and engagement efforts. Elena is a co-chair of RBC BlueBay’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Forum and a member of the Corporate Responsibility Committee and the Charity Forum.  

She joined BlueBay in 2016 and has previously held roles at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Candriam Investors Group. Elena’s academic qualifications include Masters degrees in Portfolio Management, Corporate Finance and Banking, Finance and Risk Management. Elena is a CFA charterholder, a CAIA charterholder, a CIPM designation holder and has obtained the IMC Certificate and the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing. 

Katerina is a partner at J Stern & Co, an independent private investment office. Her role encompasses wide ranging responsibilities that include managing client assets and leading the firm’s ESG strategy. Prior to joining J Stern & Co she was a Senior Global Equities Fund Manager at Allianz Global Investors. Katerina has two decades of professional experience within the industry, with an international career that has spanned the UK, Germany as well as the US.  

Katerina has volunteered for the society since 2012 and is a founding member of the CFA UK’s Diversity & Inclusion Network. She is a CFA Charterholder and holds an MSc in International Securities, Investment and Banking from the ICMA Centre at the University of Reading and a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Bath.