Speakers
Retail investors are increasingly alert to the prevalence and consequences of modern day slavery. They are increasingly seeking to exclude harmful human rights practices from their investments. Join this interactive workshop on human rights in value chains, designed especially for financial advisers. Learn how advisers can assess human rights risks in portfolios, engage with fund managers, and speak with clients about human rights. Utilising real life case studies, participants will engage in simulation exercises to analyse options available to investors in engaging with companies implicated in human rights abuses in supply chains. This workshop will help you understand the benefits and challenges of different corporate engagement approaches. You will learn how to understand and assess human rights and modern slavery risks in portfolios, and determine actions to address, mitigate and remedy these risks. This workshop draws on the RIAA/Ethical Advisers Co-op.
Head of ESG and Co-Portfolio Manager at Ausbil Investment Management
Måns leads Ausbil’s ESG team who take an active approach to engaging Australia’s listed companies on environment, social and governance issues, and how they are reported and improved. As a trained equity analyst, Måns also leads Ausbil’s integration of proprietary ESG scoring, research and ratings within Ausbil’s top-down bottom-up valuation approach so that ESG is fundamental in all of Ausbil’s investment decisions. Måns has been with Ausbil since 2015. Prior to Ausbil, Måns was the Senior ESG Research Analyst at AMP Capital, following positions at Carnegie Investment Bank, Macquarie Bank and Accenture, having begun his career in 2004. Måns is well known for producing and presenting consistent, high-quality ESG research covering the Australian market, and he has published numerous, highly regarded insight papers on ESG issues. In 2022, Måns was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for contribution to the responsible investment industry. He received a letter of commendation from Anti-Slavery Australia in 2019. Måns also holds a number of leadership positions in the industry, including: Director of RIAA (Responsible Investment Association Australasia); Chair of RIAA’s Human Rights Working Group; and is on the steering committee of IAST-APAC (Investors Against Slavery and Trafficking – Asia Pacific). Måns holds a Bachelor of Science (Major in Business Administration) and Master of Finance degree both from Gothenburg School of Economics, and an MBA International from Griffith University.
Certified Financial Planner™ at Ethical Investment Advisers
Karen McLeod is a Brisbane-based Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP), who has chosen to specialise in ethical investments for the last 18 years. She looks after clients across the country.
Her passion for ethical and responsible investment emerged in the mid-2000s as the world started to take note of the emerging climate crisis. She realised that clients wanted to make a difference by investing in solutions to save the planet such as renewable energy and recycling, rather than those polluting the environment or causing harm, like fossil fuels and weapons.
Karen served a board member on the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) for 10 years, and for 10 years on the RIAA Product and Adviser Certification Panel. She currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Ethical Advisers’ Cooperative: Engagement Working Group.
She is an active speaker at many events including: the AFR ESG Summit, the Australian Shareholders Association, 350.org, Australian Conservation Foundation, and the Climate Summit.
She has written papers and talks for many industry courses and conferences including Kaplan Education, the Australian newspaper, the Australian Financial Planning Association and New Zealand’s Responsible Investment conference. Karen has been included in many press articles with the AFR, The Australian, and the ABC to highlight the benefits of ethical and responsible investing.
In 2009, the Australian Financial Review’s ‘Smart Investor’ magazine awarded Karen a place in their Master Class Top 50 Honour Roll (Australia wide). This achievement was based on her technical expertise.
She was also awarded a place in the Financial Standard’s FS POWER 50 Adviser List in 2019 and 2020, for her contribution to the industry.
RIAA Board Member & Stewardship Manager at U Ethical Investors
Rachel Alembakis is stewardship manager at U Ethical Investors. In her role, she is responsible for managing U Ethical’s active ownership activities. She was previously the managing editor and founder of FS Sustainability, a Rainmaker title that examines how investors and companies integrate environmental, social and corporate governance issues into their decision-making processes and host of the ESG podcast The Greener Way. She has more than a decade's experience as a financial journalist covering a broad range of investment issues. Rachel holds an MSc in Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a BA in journalism and a BS in political science from Boston University.
Rachel joined the RIAA Board in December 2024.
