Marcus has held senior leadership positions in investment and multi-lateral development banks, and in the microfinance sector. He was a Vice Chair of TD Securities for Europe and Asia/Pacific, Treasurer and previously Head of Asset & Liability Management at the EBRD, and also worked for the World Bank as a financial services executive.  He also worked in capital markets and banking at CIBC and Deutsche Bank. He presently is a non-executive director (NED) of the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFI) where he chairs the audit committee and a NED at TCX where he also serves as chairman of the risk committee. Marcus holds a PhD from the Freie Universitat Berlin and graduates degrees from the London School of Economics and Cambridge University.

Varda has over 30 years’ experience in the ultimate luxury goods product arena, joining De Beers in 1984 and became CEO of the De Beers Diamond Trading Company (DTC) from 2006 until 2014. In 2013. She successfully completed one of the largest transfers of economic activity from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere – the multibillion dollar relocation of the DTC business from the UK to Botswana – after which Varda stepped down as CEO to pursue a portfolio career. Working across borders, she has continually developed pioneering approaches to collaborating with government partners from Southern Africa to Canada. She has overseen the creation of an international network of public/private joint-venture operations in multi-cultural environments, dealing with complex supply chain issues while delivering on the expectations of major international stakeholder relations. Varda has completed business and management courses at Templeton College, Oxford, Cranfield and INSEAD.  She is or has been a NED, board member or advisor at Petra Diamonds, Vulcan Cyber, the Mineral Development Company of Botswana (Pty) Co., and Lonmin Plc. Varda is also a C-suite executive mentor to leading executives.

Susanne Chishti has over 20 years’ industry expertise, including board-level experience, with a strong focus on organisational governance and the small and medium size enterprise (SME) market. She helps to advise Channel on its use of FinTech tools to scale our AUM and improve customer experience as well as assessing our clients use of FinTech in their own operations. Her experience draws on 15 years in finance, having held senior positions at Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley and Accenture. Susanne is the CEO of FINTECH Circle, Europe’s 1st Angel Network focused on fintech opportunities. She is also the founder of the FINTECH Circle Institute, the leading fintech learning platform offering classroom innovation workshops and online courses to C-level executives. Susanne holds an MBA from Vienna University of Economics and Business. A bestselling author, Susanne co-edited “The FINTECH Book” series, which has been translated into 10 languages and sold across 107 countries. Her wealth of experience led her to being recognised in the European Digital Financial Services “Power 50” 2015, an independent ranking of the most influential people in digital financial services in Europe. In addition, she was selected as a “City Innovator – Inspirational Woman” in 2016. She has been a guest lecturer on financial technology at the University of Cambridge and has also appeared as a fintech commentator on CNBC

Duarte has a considerable profile in global trade finance markets and advises our portfolio mangers on trade finance developments.  Duarte is Head of Trade Finance at the Crown Agents Bank, a UK based regulated provider of payments, cash management, trade finance, asset management and foreign exchange services to clients in developing markets, including Africa, the Caribbean, LATAM and Asia/Pacific as well as regional central banks.  Duarte is a board member and chairman of the Africa regional committee at the International Trade & Forfaiting Association.  He previously has held trade finance related positions at AIG, Standard Bank and Banif Bank.  Duarte holds a MSc from ICMA Center in International Securities, Investments & Banking.  In his spare time, Duarte is affiliated with the charity Shelter Them in Rwanda, as chairman. 

Lisa is a specialist in financial services and technology, change management and cyber sectors. Lisa previously spent 13-years at Aspen Insurance as Chief of Operations and Technology where she led the transformation process for Business Transformation, IT Strategy & Operations, Finance Operations, Outwards Reinsurance Operations, Procurement and Facilities & Real Estate. She also focused on cyber and technology governance issues to better align this function to the business lines. Lisa holds a degree in Mathematics and BMA from Leeds Trinity University and attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. 

Richard is the Chief Investment Officer of Singapore based Lyon Capital Management which has supported Channel across a number of its investment strategies over the past seven years. Previously, he served as managing director of the Flexo Manufacturing Corporation, Tigerpack Ltd in China, and SGS International Inc. Richard received his BS in economics concentrating in decision sciences from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jack has been chairman of various portfolio companies affiliated with Channel since 2006. He is also member of the Executive Committee. Jack provides advice to the management team on strategic matters and liaises with key stakeholders and shareholders as needed. Jack previously served as senior banker in the capital markets business at Citibank in Asia and the US where he played a key role in the early days of the swap market . He founded CapMAC and served as CEO and Chairman, including its listing on the NYSE. He was named in March 2010 as non-executive Chairman of the Asset Protection Agency, an executive agency in the United Kingdom and subsidiary of HM Treasury, to help create a rescue for the banking crisis in the UK.  Jack holds an MBA from UC Berkeley and a BS from California State University, Long Beach. He is the co-author of Managing Credit Risk, published by Wiley & Sons in 2008 and 2014 with Dr Edward Altman and Paul Narayanan.

Jim contributes to our panel with exceptional leadership from the financial services industry including serving as Group CEO of Old Mutual plc (wealth management and savings), CEO of Prudential UK (where he spent most of his career), and Chairman the Investment Committee at the £50 billion investment platform AJBell.  Jim is Chairman of Cover Genius, a 4 year old exciting Insurtech company selling 150,000 policies a month serving the largest eCommerce companies across 70 countries. Jim also is an advisory board member at Certua.io, which is helping financial services firms compete in the digital age.