Sylvia is an investment professional with over 30 years' experience of managing money for institutional clients both long-only and long/short when she ran her own Alternatives business. Sylvia spent 16 years at Baring Asset Management at the start of her career, where she was a Director and ran US$4bn portfolio in European and Global Equities. She also managed the award-winning Baring German Growth Trust. Subsequently, at Hermes Investment Management, Sylvia launched and managed the European Small Cap Equity Fund.
During her 3-year tenure as Head of Product Development and Management at Gulf Investment Bank (UK) and as a member of the Management Committee, Sylvia was responsible for the development and launch of the Gulf International Bank (UK) Shariah and non-Shariah Trade Finance offering. During 2018, Sylvia led Capetra’s mandate for the development of the Wealth Management Advisory strategy for Mercer in West Africa.
Sylvia is a member of the CFA Society of the UK, (CFA UK), where she serves in a number of governance roles including the promotion of CFA UK's highest standards of ethics. Sylvia was instrumental in the design, development and launch of the Certificate in ESG Investing. The certificate is the first professional qualification of its kind, delivering the benchmark knowledge and skills to integrate ESG factors into the investment process. Sylvia chaired the CFA UK ESG Working Group responsible for the innovation and development of the curriculum, in consultation with practitioners from leading firms and supported by the United Nations
She leads the investment team's implementation of sustainability practices at Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI). She is an Associate of the Society of Investment Professionals (ASIP), a holder of the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and is RDR compliant. Sylvia sits on the Examinations & Education Committee of CFA UK. She is also Chair of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Panel and sits on the Climate and Investing Working Group.
John is a Chartered Management Accountant with over 20 years’ experience in executive management roles spanning Banking and Media, in Ghana and the UK. Most recently, prior to its takeover by Consolidated Bank, John was the Deputy Managing Director of the Royal Bank, Ghana, where he was responsible for the Corporate Banking and Treasury departments. He also created their Investment Banking and Investor Relations functions for which he had oversight.
Prior to his 3-year tenure at The Royal Bank, John spent 7 years as the General Manager for Wholesale Banking and Investor Relations at UT Bank, Ghana. Here, managed a team of 30 professionals in Treasury and Corporate Banking responsible for assets in excess of US$300m. In this prominent role, John chaired the Assets and Liabilities Management Committee and raised over US$200m in trade lines for UT Bank with counterparties such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC, the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group), Afreximbank, African Development Bank, Commerzbank, and ODDO BHF and others) The portfolio covered Aviation, Construction, Energy & Mining, Financial Institutions, Manufacturing, Public Service, Telecoms and Transaction Banking.
John was part of the team that successfully listed UT Bank on the Ghana Stock Exchange. He was instrumental in securing a combined 40% equity stake in UT Bank from the IFC and the German Investment Corporation (DEG). Prior to his tenure at UT Bank, John spent over 10 years in financial management at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the UK. He held a number of leadership roles at the BBC culminating in the position of Financial Planning Manager, where he managed a team of accountants within BBC News. He was also involved in various project management and systems implementation initiatives and led the successful corporate rollout of SAP technology across the BBC News.
John is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, with over 24 years post qualification experience. He holds a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Science & Technology, Ghana and has also attended leadership courses at Wharton Business School in the United States and Ashridge Business School in the United Kingdom.
Edwin has over nineteen years’ experience in reviewing of control systems and processes. Throughout his career, Edwin has been responsible for and conducted many trainings sessions and workshops within merchant and investment banks on internal controls, compliance and due diligence procedures. Edwin was a Senior Audit Associate in KPMG, before joining Société Générale - Social Security Bank (SG SSB) as an Audit Inspector. Following Edwin’s tenure at SG SSB, he held the roles of Head of Compliance and Internal Control at both Access Bank, Ghana and UT Bank. Subsequently, Edwin was appointed Head of Compliance at Universal Merchant Bank.
He has attended several international and local courses on Risk Management, Auditing, Fraud, Anti-Money Laundering & Combating Financing of Terrorism, and Financial Crimes Prevention. Edwin is a highly recognised specialist in his field and in thisregard has served as an industry level resource person and speaker at both local and international conferences, certified training courses and workshops on Anti Money Laundering and Financial Crimes.
Edwin is a Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants and was the first person in Ghana to be certified by the Association of Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialists. He is a member of The Institute of Internal Control and is also an Associate Member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Edwin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Cape Coast and is an Examiner for the UK-based International Compliance Association.
Keyshia has over four years’ experience as a researcher and policy analyst. She brings deep experience in analysis, information management, project management and knowledge of civil society organisations in European and African markets. Over the span of her career at Imani Center for Policy and Education, she has gained experience in development issues such as social inclusion, private sector development, poverty eradication and social policy, among other things. Keshia has expertise in implementation of projects and analysis of policies. She is an expert in multi-stakeholder dialogue with groups, such Government agencies, NGOs, Development agencies, CSOs and the private sector
Some of her previous projects include organising a Trade Facilitation Forum bringing together stakeholders from government, private sectors, and traders. Her policy work includes, publishing an article on the trading potential between West African countries and other Emerging markets. She also assessed the business climate and ease of doing business in Ghana in comparison to other countries, which led to the production of a documentary and commitment from the government to improve business registration procedures.
Keshia holds a Master of Arts degree in Development Economics and International Cooperation from the University of Rome, Tor Vergata and a B.Sc. degree in Economics from the University of Birmingham.
Sandra has over five years’ experience as an Accounting and Financial Analyst. She brings extensive expertise in financial analysis, financial management and knowledge in Accounting. Through the length of her career, she worked as a Senior Accountant at Consar Ghana Limited, she has gained experience in financial reporting, ensuring compliance and forecasting. Some of her previous projects and policy work includes an article on how Capital Structure affects Firm Performance. She is self-motivated and a dedicated team player.
Sandra holds a Master of Science degree in Finance from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana and a B.Sc. degree in Business Administration from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Her commitment to professional development is reflected in her pursuit of Professional Accountancy as an ACCA student.