Sarasin Virtual Spring Seminar Week 2021
Find out about the 2022 Sarasin Spring Seminars here.

Spring Seminar Week 2021
Our 2021 Spring Seminar marked the 1st anniversary of our new virtual world. We have all missed the diversified personal contact we were used to and there are few obvious silver linings to the COVID cloud. However, the technology developed over the past decade has enabled us to engage with each other without having to leave our homes.
This year we produced a shorter main event with pairs of speakers designed to avoid lengthy onscreen monologues. The core session was complimented by five stand-alone ‘Breakfast Briefings’ to allow a deeper dive into each of our core investment themes.
Event Highlights
Speaker and topic | Watch the presentation | Download the slides |
---|---|---|
The strategic landscape: are we at a critical juncture? Subitha Subramaniam, Niloofar Rafiei | Watch | Download slides |
Back to the future James Hutton and Melanie Roberts | Watch | Download slides |
Thematic stock selection and active ownership in the 2020s Jerry Thomas and Therese Kieve | Watch | Download slides |
The coming sustainable bond revolution Tony Carter | Watch | Download slides |
The next 12 months - tactics and portfolio positioning Guy Monson | Watch | Download slides |
Digitalisation Josh Sambrook-Smith and Megan Brennan | Watch | Download slides |
Automation Alex Cobbold and Katherine Hussein | Watch | Download slides |
Ageing Alex Hunter and Allanah du Plessis | Watch | Download slides |
Evolving Consumption Jeneiv Shah and Tom Kight | Watch | Download slides |
Climate Change Ben McEwen and Natasha Landell-Mills | Watch | Download slides |
For the best experience, we suggest you watch the presentations in their original order. For each presentation, click on the video link to launch the presentation recording. If you wish to download the accompanying slides, click on the PDF links.
Main Seminar Speakers

Partner, Charities
James Hutton
Partner, Charities
James is responsible for the management of portfolios on behalf of charities and UK institutions. He is also a member of our Investment Policy Committee, co-author of the Sarasin Compendium of Investment, and co-chairs our D&I Steering Committee.
Prior to joining Sarasin & Partners in October 2012, he spent seven years at GAM London Limited where he was a Portfolio Director.
James has a degree in Business Management from the University of Newcastle and is a qualified Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. He also holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and has passed CFA level 1.

Senior Stewardship Analyst
Therese Kieve
Senior Stewardship Analyst
Therese is responsible for undertaking rigorous analysis on the financial implications of ESG factors for specific stocks as well as on a sector/industry basis. She also supports and leads company engagements and voting.
Prior to joining Sarasin & Partners in 2019, Therese worked as a senior research analyst at Institutional Shareholder Services Inc (ISS), a provider of governance and responsible investment solutions to the financial community. Prior to ISS, she worked at ShareAction, a UK organisation that promotes responsible investment.
Therese has an MSc in Corporate Governance and Business Ethics from University of London, and a BMath in Actuarial Science from the University of Waterloo, Canada. She is also a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA).

Senior Partner
Richard Maitland
Senior Partner
Richard joined Sarasin & Partners in 1992. He is a Senior Partner and a member of the Executive Committee, focussing on strategic investment, client management, and new business initiatives. He was Head of Charities between 2003 and 2023.
Specialising in managing multi-asset portfolios, he was responsible for growing our CAIFs from under £50m to over £3bn. Richard wrote and edited the Compendium of Investment over the past 20 years and has lectured at The Judge (Cambridge), the University of Vienna and the University of Stellenbosch. He developed our Trustee Training initiatives and is the Chairman of the St Paul’s Cathedral Investments Committee.

Senior Partner and Chief Market Strategist
Guy Monson
Senior Partner and Chief Market Strategist
Guy Monson, Chief Market Strategist and Senior Partner of Sarasin & Partners LLP, has over 35 years of investment experience having joined the company in 1984. In 1988, he became manager of Sarasin’s flagship GlobalSar (now Multi Asset) family of balanced investment funds, winning awards for investment performance and risk profile. He has pioneered the use of thematic investment in the management of global equity portfolios and today leads the firm’s global investment and markets strategy for a wide range of charitable, endowment and private clients.
Guy writes regularly in the international financial press and appears on Bloomberg and other financial channels. He is also a member of the London School of Economics IDEAS Advisory Board and a Foundation Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University.

Economist
Niloofar Rafiei
Economist
Prior to joining Sarasin, Niloofar worked at the Australian High Commission (Treasury representative) covering the UK and the Eurozone economies, as well as G20 policies.
She also has several years of experience on the Chinese economy, both at Timetric (an emerging markets economic consultancy), and at the Australian Treasury in Canberra where she trained as an economist prior to moving to London.

Head of Charities
Melanie Roberts
Head of Charities
Melanie joined Sarasin & Partners in 2011 and was appointed Head of Charities in January 2023. She has over 25 years’ investment experience and is responsible for the management of charity and private client portfolios. Melanie speaks regularly at Sarasin seminars and was the Editor of Sarasin’s quarterly publication, the House Report, for ten years.
Prior to joining Sarasin & Partners, Melanie spent 16 years at Newton Investment Management. She qualified with a degree in Modern Languages from Durham University and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment. Melanie is also a Non-Executive Director of the BlackRock Sustainable American Income Trust.

Partner, Chief Economist and Head of Asset Management
Subitha Subramaniam
Partner, Chief Economist and Head of Asset Management
Subitha is responsible for analysing the macroeconomic backdrop that underpins investment strategy.
Prior to joining Sarasin & Partners, Subitha worked at UBS in Zurich, Switzerland, as a Senior Economist for Asia in Global Markets Research and then as a Macroeconomist for Asia in Sovereign Research. She was a project Director at the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector, Washington DC, USA. She also worked as a research assistant at the World Bank’s Middle East Department.
Subitha holds a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College, Hanover NH, USA and an MA and Ph.D. in Economics from Duke University, Durham NC, USA.

CIO, Global Equities
Jerry Thomas
CIO, Global Equities
Jerry has over 20 years' investment experience and is CIO of Global Equities. He joined Sarasin & Partners in 2016 from Allianz Global Investors where he spent 12 years as a UK, European and global equity fund manager. He co-managed the Brunner Investment Trust from 2010-2016. Prior to this he spent three years at Isis Asset Management (now BMO Global), five years at Schroders, and five years as a British Army Officer.


Senior Stewardship Analyst
Therese Kieve


Senior Partner and Chief Market Strategist
Guy Monson

Economist
Niloofar Rafiei


Partner, Chief Economist and Head of Asset Management
Subitha Subramaniam

CIO, Global Equities
Jerry Thomas
Theme Breakfast Speakers

Fund Manager - Multi Asset & Global Equities
Megan Brennan
Fund Manager - Multi Asset & Global Equities
Megan is co-portfolio manager on the Sarasin Tomorrow’s World Multi-Asset Fund. She is also deputy fund manager of the Sarasin Responsible Global Equity Fund, Sarasin Thematic Global Equity Fund and Sarasin IE Global Equity Opportunities Fund.
Prior to joining Sarasin, Megan spent 4 years at Coutts & Co working as an Assistant Fund Manager for the Coutts Multi Asset Funds.
Megan is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin with a degree in Business, Economics & Social Studies. Megan also holds the Private Client Investment Advice and Management certificate (PCIAM) as well as the Investment Advice Diploma (IAD) and is a CFA® charterholder.

Head of Equity Research, Partner
Alex Cobbold
Head of Equity Research, Partner
Alex is responsible for screening and researching stock ideas from the Global Energy and Industrials Universe and providing insight into macro events and themes which will influence the sectors.
Alex joined Sarasin & Partners in January 2017. Prior to joining Sarasin, Alex was employed at the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) for 16 years as a global industrials and energy equity and commodity analyst and portfolio manager.
Before joining the GIC he was an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein for five years. He covered the EU building and materials sector. Alex‘s career started in the city after graduating at National Provident Institution (NPI) as a UK fund manager.

Senior Investment Manager
Allanah Hill
Senior Investment Manager
Allanah is responsible for the management of UK and international private client portfolios. Allanah joined Sarasin in 2018 after having graduated with an MSc in Investment and Wealth Management from Imperial College Business School and previously a BSc in Chemistry from The University of Bristol.
Allanah holds the IMC (Investment Management Certificate) PCIAM (Private Client Investment Advice and Management Certificate) and has passed all 3 levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams.

Partner, Asset Management
Alex Hunter
Partner, Asset Management
Alex has been with Sarasin & Partners since 2007, working primarily with the Global Equity franchise and is global equity portfolio manager for the Equity Opportunities fund. Prior to joining Sarasin in 2007, Alex spent four years at US hedge fund Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder working with global long only and alternative equity strategies, based in both New York and London.
From 1996 to 2003 Alex worked at Morgan Stanley as a sell-side equity analyst covering the capital goods sector and subsequently the aerospace sector. Whilst at Morgan Stanley, Alex qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA, 1999) and from 1999 to 2003 was consistently ranked, with his team, in the top three by surveys such as the Institutional Investor Magazine - being top ranked both in Europe (2002) and globally (2000).
Alex is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, holds a BA in Economics and Statistics from the University of Exeter and has taken courses at the London Business School and Harvard Medical School.

Senior Investment Manager
Katherine Hussein
Senior Investment Manager
Katherine joined Sarasin & Partners in March 2020. Prior to Sarasin, she worked at J.P. Morgan Asset Management in the Global Insurance Solutions team covering insurance companies in Europe and Asia. She has also worked at Société Générale Private Bank as an Investment Advisor and has completed internships at Goldman Sachs and NatWest. Katherine graduated from Queen Mary University of London with a degree in Economics and completed the Sustainable Finance course at the University of Cambridge.
Katherine sits on the Sarasin Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee and the Diversity Project’s Steering Group.

Global Equity Analyst
Tom Kight
Global Equity Analyst
Tom is a global equity analyst and member of the Sarasin Food & Agriculture Opportunities Fund team. He joined Sarasin in 2019, initially managing multi-asset investment strategies for charities. He started his career at Investec where he managed private client portfolios and specialist European real estate equity mandates.
Tom is a CFA® charterholder, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (Chartered FCSI), and holds the Investment Advice Diploma (IAD). He graduated from the University of Warwick in 2014 with a degree in History.

Partner, Head of Stewardship
Natasha Landell-Mills
Partner, Head of Stewardship
Natasha is currently a Partner and Head of Stewardship at the asset manager Sarasin & Partners LLP, where she steers the firm’s stewardship work, ensuring effective engagement, voting and public policy outreach in order to promote the creation of sustainable value. Since 2017, she has spearheaded Sarasin’s flagship Climate Active strategy.
Natasha has been a vocal advocate for reform of the accounting and audit system to promote long-term stewardship as well as action by company boards to confront climate change. Natasha is a member of the Committee of the International Corporate Governance Network, as well as the Consultative Advisory Group for the International Audit and Assurance Standards Board. Natasha sits on the Investment Committee for the Cambridge Assistants Contributory Pension Scheme and is a non-executive director at Carbon Tracker, a leading think-tank on investment and climate change.
Natasha has a background in development economics and responsible investment. Prior to joining Sarasin & Partners, she spent six years as the Senior Analyst leading ESG integration and several areas of policy work at the Universities Superannuation Scheme’s Investment Management arm; and four years in Budapest working with OTP Fund Management and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Before moving into finance, Natasha spent a number of years working on sustainable development issues in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Natasha started her career as an Overseas Development Institute Fellow, working as the Chief Economist in the Guyana Forestry Commission.
Natasha has Masters in Economics from Cambridge University, an MSc in Natural Resource Economics from University College London, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Climate Active Analyst
Ben McEwen
Climate Active Analyst
Ben is responsible for leading analysis on climate change opportunities, as well as developing climate derived stress-tests and applying these to portfolio investments.
Prior to joining Sarasin & Partners in 2018, Ben worked for RBC and CIBC as a sell-side Equity Research Analyst covering global natural resources. He has also worked in audit and assurance for PwC in London, and as a commodities economist in Sydney, Australia.
Ben is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, holds a Certificate in Investments (Securities) from CISI, a Certificate in Economics of Competing Energy Technologies from Stanford University and graduated the Global MBA at Imperial College London with Distinction.

Fund Manager
Josh Sambrook-Smith
Fund Manager
Josh is a sector analyst covering Technology, media and telecoms on a global basis.
Prior to joining Sarasin & Partners, Josh worked at Putnam Investments as an Equity Analyst covering pan-European financials, telecoms, tech and utilities companies. Prior to Putnam, he worked for a small Private Equity firm focusing on researching and analysing potential investments into software companies. He also worked at BNY Mellon Asset Management in a middle office role.
Josh has a degree in Economics from Birmingham University and CFA Level 1.

Analyst/Portfolio Manager
Jeneiv Shah
Analyst/Portfolio Manager
Jeneiv is Co-Portfolio Manager for Sarasin & Partners Food and Agriculture Opportunities. He is also an equity analyst covering Global Food and Agriculture.
Jeneiv joined Sarasin and Partners in 2017. Prior to this, he worked at T Rowe Price as an international equity analyst for seven years. Jeneiv began his investment career in 2008 at Mirae Asset Global Investment as an emerging market analyst.
Jeneiv has a BSc Hons Mathematics from University of Warwick and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Fund Manager - Multi Asset & Global Equities
Megan Brennan

Head of Equity Research, Partner
Alex Cobbold


Partner, Asset Management
Alex Hunter


Global Equity Analyst
Tom Kight

Partner, Head of Stewardship
Natasha Landell-Mills

Climate Active Analyst
Ben McEwen

Fund Manager
Josh Sambrook-Smith

Analyst/Portfolio Manager