IQ-EQ Podcast

ESG Journeys, Walking the Talk from End to EndHear the differing perspectives of a portfolio company, fund manager and solutions provider as they each describe what ESG means to them and the specific challenges they face. Our panel will discuss the questions that these market participants are receiving from their own clients before learning how they are attempting to provide appropriate solutions. 

In this episode of Between The Lines, Darren Mooney, managing director at IQ-EQ, dives deep into IQ-EQ's proprietary compliance tool, gVue. gVue is a comprehensive solution for managing and monitoring a business's compliance activities. Darren talks with Steve Piaker and Tanu Suneja of Ten Coves Capital, Jenny Herman of Additive Advisory and IQ-EQ's Melsa McGarey, director, and JP Gonzalez, Chief Commercial Officer, The Americas. During this show, you will hear about how gVue helps businesses from different perspectives, and how it can streamline compliance processes and procedures.

In this episode of our 'Women in Alternative Assets' podcast series, IQ-EQ's Anne Marie Costet is joined by Sandrine Henton, Managing Director of EG Capital, who is looking forward to exploiting a new strategy which invests in young people and women to deliver measurable financial returns and impact.  During the session, Sandrine shares her views about recognising the risk perception of bias when investing in an emerging market such as Africa, and the potential for generating alpha by investing in frontier markets. She also discusses several biases in investment decision-making in the industry. 

IQ-EQ is delighted to share a recording of the first of our online masterclasses for first-time fund managers, developed in association with IQ-EQ Launchpad. This session, led by IQ-EQ training manager Carmel McCartney, examines the challenges facing first-time fund managers and how to overcome them.Throughout the session, Carmel discusses problems that may arise during the set-up process, calculating cost-time efficiency, and preparing for the unknowns. She also provides an overview of four success factors that IQ-EQ believes are critical to launching a maiden fund successfully.

In this first episode of our 'Women in Alternative Assets' podcast series, IQ-EQ's Rachel Aldridge is joined by Shefali Roy, an award-winning angel investor who invests globally in start-ups within the Fintech, Creator Economy, FemTech and Future of Work sectors.During the session, Shefali shares her views on the industry's gender imbalance across regions as well as key barriers that women face in allocating investment capital, and gives advice to women raising their first fund.

IQ-EQ is delighted to share this podcast, which is a recording of our Fund Finance – The Latest Market Trends webinar that was broadcast on 1 December 2021. There has been substantial growth in the fund finance market over recent years, with more and more funds seeking subscription line and NAV financing, and we anticipate that 2022 will be a year of further growth and innovation.To further investigate what we see as trends for 2022, we were delighted to be able to broadcast an in-depth webinar on the topic of “Fund Finance – Latest Market Developments”.You will hear from our panel of fund finance experts, who were asked for their views on the upcoming market trends, by moderator, Emmanuelle Dotezac, Director, Funds, IQ-EQ UKParticipating in this expert panel were:• Augustin Duhamel, Managing Partner, Investment Committee member and co-founder of 17Capital in 2008• Camille Defaye, Chief Financial Officer, Latour Capital• David Checoury, President, Stanhope Capital SAS• Sarah Lobbardi, Founding Partner, Avardi Partners• Gregory Beauchamps, Head of Fund Structuring, Tikehau Investment Management

IQ-EQ is delighted to share this podcast, which is a recording of the third and hybrid edition of our flagship event, IQ-EQ Crossroads, on the topic “The rise and rise of private capital, which we hosted in London, on 16 November 2021. At this year's event, we sought investors' views on the private capital landscape, their areas of interest and sectors of focus, as well as what is most exciting and most challenging about investing in the private capital industry today. Nomura was our co-sponsor on this event.We were very excited to have Diana Noble, Non-Executive Director, Bank of England, as our headline speaker at this event. She is also the founder of Kirkos Partners, an advisor to leaders of Private Equity firms.Diana's background is in private equity, venture capital and international development. She was a partner at Schroder Ventures (now Permira) for 12 years and founded e-Ventures and Reed Elsevier Ventures. Diana was the CEO of CDC, the UK's £5 billion development finance institution, from 2011 to 2017. She joined CDC after five years with the Clinton Foundation's Health Access Initiative where she oversaw the programme to give children equal access to HIV/ AIDS care.Steve Sokic, Group Head of Private Wealth moderated our discussion panel which included  Mark J. McDonald, Global Head of Private Equity, DWS; Winston Chesterfield, Founder, Barton Consulting, Guy Hayward-Cole, Managing Director, Head of Advisory EMEA, Nomura and Hugh Stacey, Executive Director, Investor Solutions.

IQ-EQ is pleased to share the fifth podcast in our CFO e-Lab series, and is a recording of our webinar, which took place on 7 December 2021. During this session, we sought to discuss the impact of technology and CFO Support services on the role of the private funds CFO. In this episode, introduced and moderated by J.P. Harrop, Group Funds Advisor, IQ-EQ, we were joined by the following expert panelists: Sanjay G. Tolani, Head of Private Markets, Europe, FIS, LondonBoris Onefater, Chairman & Global Head of Outsourced Services, Constellation Advisers LLC, part of IQ-EQ, New YorkRazzak Akbar, Chief Financial Officer, Freshstream, LondonFollowing the presentations, we hosted a Q&A session with questions from the audience, which rounded off the session. 

IQ-EQ's Hugh Stacey defines greenwashing and shares his insight into how to recognise it. He also outlines how regulators and investors are taking action and what asset managers can do to avoid the greenwashing trap.Hugh Stacey is the Executive Director of IQ-EQ Investor Solutions, which is a division dedicated to servicing the private markets portfolios of institutional and private investors with the latest technological platforms. Investor Solutions is powered by IQ-EQ Cosmos, our proprietary investor reporting tool that delivers real-time data and analysis across multiple investments, portfolios, funds and asset classes. It includes dedicated ESG dashboards enabling reporting against key ESG criteria and global sustainability benchmarks. 

Private debt is an asset class that has fared strongly against the backdrop of the current global crisis. On 15 April 2021, IQ-EQ hosted an exciting virtual debate on the topic of ‘Debt is dead. Long live debt!' between experts Richard Vague and Gabriel de Alba, moderated by IQ-EQ's Group Head of Funds, Justin Partington.Richard Vague is the Chairman of the Governor's Woods Foundation and author of The Next Economic Disaster. He has previously been co-founder, chairman and CEO of Energy Plus and the co-founder and CEO of First USA and Juniper Financial. Gabriel de Alba is an international investor who has recapitalised, restructured and built businesses across the US, Europe, Canada and emerging markets.The debate addressed six core statements relating to private debt:1.     Private debt seems to thrive in crisis only. Agree or disagree?2.     Private debt is a safe investment in a changing environment. Agree or disagree?3.     Is this the right time for debt, and how best to execute a debt strategy?4.     ESG will ensure further transparency in private debt as per other asset classes. For or against?5.     Covenant-lite loans are often referred to as the scourge of corporate lending. Agree or disagree?6.     Debt is dead. Long live debt! Agree or disagree?If you'd prefer to read a recap of the key debate highlights, please click here.

IQ-EQ is thrilled to share a recording of the third webinar within our global series that aims to shed light on the reality and practical issues of economic substance in all key investment hubs. In this session, we focus on the Isle of Man. IQ-EQ's Group Investment Structuring Leader, Pascal Rapallino, kicks off the event by providing a brief overview of the series. He is joined by two expert panellists: Robert Rotherham, Partner at KPMG, and Craig Brown, Managing Director of IQ-EQ Isle of Man.Robert Rotherham presents the latest updates affecting economic substance in the Isle of Man, while Craig Brown elaborates on the best practices to ensure economic substance compliance.

In this episode, IQ-EQ's Head of Funds for Jersey, Malcolm Macleod, sits down with Grant Thornton's Jessica Patel and Ogier's Sophie Reguengo to discuss the merits of Jersey as a jurisdiction for real estate structuring.Jessica Patel is a partner in Grant Thornton's Real Estate & Construction team, based in London. She has significant expertise structuring UK and international property transactions with extensive knowledge advising clients on tax across the property investment and development lifecycle. Jessica works with a number of funds and REITs and leads M&A real estate transactions including due diligence and SPA advice for corporate acquisitions.Sophie, meanwhile, is a partner in Ogier's Investment Funds team in Jersey and the firm's multi-disciplinary Private Equity team. She is a highly experienced investment funds and regulatory lawyer with over 15 years in the funds industry, focused primarily on private equity and real estate structures. She advises private and public funds in relation to fund formation and raising capital, regulation, fund finance, acquisitions and sales, restructuring and winding-up.Together, they share valuable insight into why Jersey remains a jurisdiction of choice for real estate structuring as well as the most popular Jersey structures and the types of asset/investor using them. They also discuss the recent UK tax changes and wider tax considerations relating to Jersey, before sharing what they see as the hottest topics for real estate in 2021.

In this episode, IQ-EQ's Jimmy Leong chats to Teo Wee Hwee, Tax Partner and Head of Real Estate & Asset Management at KPMG in Singapore. Together they discuss the taxation of carried interest, a hot topic for GPs and key factor in determining the attractiveness of a location for alternative investment managers. Asian investment hubs understand the importance of this aspect; for instance, Singapore offers a special rate on fund managers' performance fees and Hong Kong has recently issued a proposal to provide a tax concession for carried interest distributed in respect of private equity transactions. Wee Hwee has practised tax for over 23 years and has extensive experience in structuring single country and multi-jurisdictional funds with an Asian focus. He has expertise in fund formations and is familiar with fund platforms in Singapore, Luxembourg, Cayman Islands and Labuan among others, as well as tax efficient divestment planning opportunities for funds with multiple exit strategies. He is also an expert in structuring carried interest from both a corporate and personal tax perspective.

A conversation with Mark Fordyce about fully integrated back-office services on the Operational Leaders podcast with host Terrance O'Malley.  The podcast features leaders and innovators who discuss the business of running an asset management business. Mark Fordyce had an idea to create a firm that provides a full suite of outsourced services to alternative investment managers.  Then he executed on it.  The result - in 2009 Mark co-founded Blue River Partners which has since grown to become the preeminent outsourced service provider to the alternative asset management industry.In this episode, Mark talks about starting and growing Blue River Partners and a key early decision to combine legal and compliance support with accounting and operations.  He also discusses the advantages to outsourcing, the trend and gradual acceptance of the outsourcing option.  Along the way, Mark describes the recent acquisition of Blue River Partners by global Investor Services provider IQ-EQ and what that will mean for Blue River and how it reflects ongoing changes in the industry.

IQ-EQ is pleased to share a recording of the fourth webinar in our CFO e-Lab series, which took place on 23 February. During this masterclass session, our hand-picked experts sought to explain the impact that the EU Taxonomy and Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) will have on asset managers.Leading the masterclass, we have:Catherine Martougin, Partner in the Funds & Asset Management team of Baker McKenzie Luxembourg, who has more than 20 years' experience in business lawMichael Maldener, Managing Director and Conducting Officer for Nordea Investment Funds SA, the Luxembourg ManCo of Nordea Asset Management (NAM).Catherine represents managers of real estate, private equity, debt and infrastructure funds and other financial institution. She works on a range of corporate and commercial transactions, including organisational structuring and related regulatory matters (notably AIFs and AIFMs), as well as initial fund formation, complex restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, asset dispositions, secondary trades, capital raisings, real estate investments, venture capital investments and joint venture arrangements. She is a member of the Executive Board of the European Association of INVREV and of the Supervisory Board of LuxReal, and is a recognised thought leader on a number of topics including ESG and impact investing.Michael joined Nordea in 2008 after different senior roles in the Luxembourg financial industry. Throughout his professional career, he has gained strong expertise in governance, sustainability, product and related distribution aspects of the asset management ecosystem and is actively involved in the industry through various committees and working groups. He holds a law degree as well as an Executive MBA in Private Wealth Management focused on responsible investing.In this CFO e-Lab, you will hear first from Catherine, who discusses the legal and technical aspects of the new Taxonomy and SFDR regulations. Michael then provides valuable insights from a business perspective, including a view of how the business landscape will change. A dynamic Q&A session with questions from our audience rounds off the session.

IQ-EQ is pleased to share a recording of the second webinar in our new global series that aims to shed light on the reality and practical issues of economic substance in all key investment hubs. For this second session, which focused on Switzerland, we were joined by two expert panellists: Olivier Cavadini, Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys SA, and Janet Palmiero, Associate Director at IQ-EQ Switzerland. Serge Richard, Managing Director of IQ-EQ Switzerland, moderated the panel and Q&A session.During the webinar, Olivier Cavadini provided an overview of the substance requirements in Switzerland, while Janet Palmiero shared her insights and best practice case studies to help companies ensure their local entities achieve compliance.

IQ-EQ's Head of Real Estate for Luxembourg, Tamas Mark, sits down with Aon's Helen Chapman and Harriet Clarke to discuss insurance in the context of real estate investing.Aon is a leading global insurance broker and Helen Chapman, Executive Director, and Harriet Clarke, Director, are part of its M&A and Transaction Solutions division. Both qualified lawyers, Helen is an insurance product specialist, while Harriet specialises in insurance solutions to support buyers and sellers in M&A transactions, with particular focus on the real estate sector.In their conversation with Tamas, Helen and Harriet share insight into a range of insurance-related trends within the real estate space, including the most popular insurance solutions to positively influence deal timelines, the impact of Covid-19 on transaction insurance and insurers' appetites, and insurance products that can create real value for clients as opposed to just downside protection. They also discuss how insurance fits into a typical real estate transaction, as well as key due diligence considerations.

IQ-EQ's Kevin O'Connell chats to Beth Houghton, Partner and Head of Impact, and Stephanie Wall, ESG Director, at UK investment firm Palatine Private Equity. Together, they discuss how the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of ESG-focused funds and how the private equity industry can embrace this opportunity for change. In addition, Beth and Stephanie share the key criteria Palatine looks for when acquiring portfolio companies and discuss how they believe the private equity market will look one year from now.Beth joined Palatine in 2007 after having previously spent 10 years as a management consultant. She holds an MBA with distinction from Manchester Business School. Beth leads Palatine's Impact fund, and has recently been named in Real Deals' Future 40 Diversity and Inclusion Leaders list.Stephanie joined Palatine in 2018 from an environmental consultancy and has 10 years' experience in the responsible investing space. Palatine is a UK-based, mid-market private equity firm with an unrivalled reputation for balancing sustainability and ESG with market-leading returns. Its main focus is on ensuring that ESG contributes directly to the long-term success and sustainability of its portfolio companies.

Here we are pleased to share a recording of our recent webinar in partnership KPMG Singapore, which examined Singapore as a leading jurisdiction for funds. Hosted by IQ-EQ Singapore's Sukanya Lal, the December 2020 session took the form of a panel discussion followed by a live Q&A session. Joining Sukanya on the panel were:·       Anulekha Samant, Tax Partner - Asset Management, KPMG Singapore·       Kalpesh Desai, Partner - Deal Advisory, M&A Tax and Private Equity Tax, KPMG India·       Nandini Navale, Director - Asset Management, KPMG SingaporeThroughout the insightful session, our expert panellists discussed the trends in onshore platforms in Singapore as well as some of the key commercial, tax and legal considerations for investors. The discussion covered the reasons behind Singapore's increasing popularity as a funds domicile, the various fund regimes now available in the jurisdiction including an update on the new Singapore VCC vehicle and its use across various fund strategies, fund management licensing requirements in Singapore, and more.

IQ-EQ is pleased to share a recording of our first webinar within a new global series that aims to shed light on the reality and practical issues of economic substance in all key investment hubs.For the inaugural session, hosted by IQ-EQ's Group Investment Structuring Leader, Pascal Rapallino, our spotlight was on the Netherlands. Pascal was joined by two expert speakers: Anton Akimov, senior tax adviser at Loyens & Loeff in the Netherlands, and Emma Causevic, corporate director at IQ-EQ Netherlands.During the session, Anton provided an overview of the latest regulatory updates that are expected to affect economic substance and how they will impact local corporate structures. IQ-EQ's Emma Causevic then shared some practical ‘best practice' insights to help corporates meet the current and future substance requirements.

IQ-EQ's Jack Standen sits down with Charles Peck and Mark Maynard, co-founders of boutique executive search firm March Consultants, to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on working practices within the private equity industry.With Charles and Mark at the helm, March Consultants focuses on delivering creative hiring solutions for C-suite roles within the private equity sector and wider alternatives industry. The London-based firm places top players into leading multi-national corporations, alternative investment firms and their portfolio companies.In this episode of The Alternative Series hosted by funds director Jack Standen, Charles and Mark dive into the working culture and recruitment-related challenges presented by this year's COVID-19 disruption and how leaders within private equity firms are navigating and adapting to suit the ‘new normal' in order to sustain productivity, engagement and retention.

In this episode, Serge Krancenblum sits down with Phil Davis, Director of ESG at Africa-focused private equity firm, Helios Investment Partners. Together they discuss Phil's experience with ESG investing to date as well as his predictions for how this crucial area will continue to evolve, grow and impact the global investment sphere.Phil Davis is a leader in his field with over 14 years of industry experience, during which he has worked on the ESG frameworks of some of the leading global private equity firms. Before joining Helios earlier this year, he was Head of Sustainability, EMEA at The Carlyle Group. Helios is among the trailblazers in this space, having integrated ESG considerations into its investment framework since its inception. The firm's recent Certification B achievement is further evidence of its adherence to the highest standards of corporate governance, transparency, accountability and social and environmental performance.  During this podcast, Phil explains how Helios intends to further advance and expand the scope of its ESG investments and shares key insight into how ESG is shaping the world of investments.

IQ-EQ sits down with CMS Law's Charles Kerrigan, chair of the AREF Technology Working Group, to discuss recent PropTech developments and the role that technology has to play in the real estate sector moving forward.Technology is proving to be the answer to many of today's challenges, including in the real estate sphere. PropTech trends were already influencing the UK real estate market, but Covid-19 may be accelerating such innovation to help overcome new pandemic-related hurdles and drive the market forward post pandemic.In this episode, funds director Tom Miller is joined by FinTech expert Charles Kerrigan to shed some light on this interesting subject. Together they discuss the significance of PropTech for the real estate sector, the role it has to play in relation to post-pandemic market recovery and what developments are likely to have the biggest industry impact in the next 12 months.Charles is a partner at CMS Law in London where he acts on finance and technology transactions and projects. The Blockchain Industry Landscape Overview 2018 names him as one of the UK's leading influencers on blockchain, and he is the UK's “recommended lawyer” for blockchain and digital technology in the UK Parliament Hub. Charles also chairs the Technology Working Group of the Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF).

IQ-EQ hosted a webinar with IFI Global, Morgan Lewis, PwC and Edelweiss Asset Management on Thursday 22 October, focused on ‘Private Debt in Asia'.North America may be leading the region when it comes to private debt, but a number of key Asian LPs – such as Temasek and the Japan Government Pension Funds – are allocating capital to private funds. On the back of our exclusive white paper, ‘Private Debt: Expect the Unexpected', which was launched by IQ-EQ in collaboration with IFI Global, this webinar session focuses on the key findings of the white paper from an Asian perspective.The webinar starts with an introduction on the results and takeaways of the white paper by Simon Osborn, CEO of IFI Global, followed by a panel discussion and a live Q&A session.The panel was moderated by Jimmy Leong, IQ-EQ's Chief Commercial Officer for Asia. Our panellists comprised:·       Sukanya Lal, Business Development Director, IQ-EQ·       Joel Seow, Director, Morgan Lewis·       Hermant Daga, President and Head, Edelweiss Asset Management·       Anuj Kagalwala, Partner, Asset and Wealth Management Tax Leader, PwC Singapore.

ATAD 2 / BEPS and its impact on Luxembourg-based private equity funds. IQ-EQ's third webinar in our CFO eLab series focuses on the impact that ATAD 2/BEPS will have on Luxembourg-based private equity funds. Moderated by Christian Heinen, Managing Director, IQ-EQ Luxembourg, we are honoured to be joined by two prestigious speakers, Raymond Krawczykowski - Tax Partner, Merger and Acquisition, Deloitte Tax & Consulting, Luxembourg and Frank van Kuijk - Partner and Head of the Investment Management Tax team at Loyens & Loeff, Luxembourg.

Can ESG metrics enhance the value of your portfolio company at exit?Geetha Tharmaratnam, CEO of Aequalitas Capital Partners, talks about the current accelerated growth and popularity of ESG-focused funds amid the COVID-19 pandemic.According to Morningstar, funds that invest according to ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles attracted net inflows of $71.1 billion globally between April and June this year, pushing the total value of ESG fund assets under management to a new high of just over $1 trillion.In this episode, our Group Executive Chairman, Serge Krancenblum, sits down with Geetha Tharmaratnam, CEO of Aequalitas Capital Partners, to discuss the surge in interest in ESG-focused funds, particularly following the disruption caused by COVID-19. Geetha further elaborates on the frameworks and processes to make a fund manager's fund ESG compliant and the various metrics used to disclose this compliance.Geetha is the CEO of Aequalitas Capital Partners and leads its Impact Investment practice. She advises investors, intermediaries, international development players and companies interested in creating and implementing impact investment objectives and Sustainable Development Goals in relation to investment products.

An in-depth look into the new Hong Kong LPF regime opened by Alice Lyu, ComplianceAsia / Regional Director, HFA as moderator.You will then hear from our panelists:·       Kenny Yeung, Business Development Director, IQ-EQ·       Jiang Jingjing, Partner, Funds, King & Wood Mallesons·       Vanessa Chan, Partner, International Tax and Transaction Services, Asia-Pacific Financial Services, EY

IQ-EQ's Head of Real Estate for Luxembourg, Tamas Mark, shares his insight into real estate corporate governance issues and trends amid ongoing COVID-19 disruptionIn this episode, we're keeping this close to home as funds director Tom Miller is joined by Tamas Mark, our head of real estate in Luxembourg, to discuss corporate governance within the real estate sector in the context of COVID-19.This conversation builds upon and provides an update following Tamas' April article sharing tailored corporate governance guidance for each of the key real estate sectors in line with how they would likely be impacted by COVID-19 disruption. As we're now a few months into the pandemic and lockdowns are gradually lifting, Tamas discusses how things are looking in the real estate space at present. From his experience as a non-executive director of client companies, he shares valuable insight into the common themes and pressing issues discussed in board meetings, key trends and changes, the role and lasting impact of technology, as well as some specific points from a Luxembourg perspective.Tamas Mark joined IQ-EQ in Feburary 2020 with more than 15 years' experience in the corporate services and tax industry, during which he gained significant experience managing complex real estate structures across a multitude of property sectors. He has held a number of strategic senior leadership roles, building a strong understanding of the European real estate market as well as key global client relationship management expertise. Tamas is a chartered accountant, certified tax adviser and is MRICS qualified. He is also an active member of multiple Luxembourg-based industry working groups.

Is the back office function moving forward?In this CFO e-Lab session, we examine how the role of the private fund CFO has evolved and how their position enables them to play a pivotal role in leveraging and managing data to drive financial performance and create value.Leading the masterclass are:·       Shaun Collins, CFO for Europe and Asia at Apollo Global Management, one of the world's top 10 private equity firms. Shaun joined Apollo in 2013 as European Chief Financial Officer before taking on his current role. Before Apollo, he spent 13 years at Goldman Sachs, latterly as a Managing Director and European Corporate Controller. He also previously spent four years with NatWest Bank focused on statutory and regulatory reporting for global financial markets, after qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1992 with Ernst and Young.·       Barnaby Piggott, Founder and CEO of Holland Mountain, a leading European consulting firm that delivers operational improvements and maximises efficiency in the private equity, private debt, real estate and infrastructure sectors. Barnaby is a highly accomplished PE project specialist with more than 15 years' experience working with PE fund managers, administrators and investors throughout Europe and the US. He has completed over 50 client engagements with leading industry names, including Coller Capital, Bridgepoint, UBS (now MUFG), IK Partners and Octopus Investments.

Silverfleet's Chairman, Neil MacDougall, talks about the current ‘hotspots' for alternative fund managers amid COVID-19 disruptionIn this episode, our Group Executive Chairman, Serge Krancenblum, sits down with Neil MacDougall, Chairman of both Silverfleet Capital and the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA), to discuss the opportunities and ‘hotspots' available to alternative fund managers against the backdrop of COVID-19.While the pandemic has not spared the alternative assets sector, in all crises there are also opportunities. Neil shares his insights on the factors that have been driving the popularity of private equity and real estate. In particular, he talks about the ‘sweet spots' that the private equity sector is well poised to take advantage of, especially in the light of accelerating digital trends, as well as the future of private equity and private credit following the likelihood of an increase in distressed debt in the current crisis.Neil joined Silverfleet Capital in 1989, and became the firm's fourth Managing Partner in 2004, a position he held until 2019, when he became Chairman of the firm. Having led some of Silverfleet's most successful investments, including Finnish Chemicals and Sterigenics, Neil currently chairs the Investment Committee for Fund II and the European Development Fund. Neil is also Chairman of the BVCA, and with more than 30 years' experience of investing in the European mid-market, his views and opinions are frequently sought by the media and industry alike. Prior to joining Silverfleet, Neil was a management consultant at Bain & Co, which he joined having read Natural Sciences and Computer Science at St Catharine's College, Cambridge University.

BNP Paribas Real Estate's Head of Research shares her insights on the future of office space in light of COVID-19In this episode, IQ-EQ's Tom Miller sits down with Stephanie McMahon, Head of Research for BNP Paribas Real Estate, to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the short- and medium-term future of office space. Throughout the discussion, Stephanie provides insight into the effect of COVID-19 on existing trends such as co-working and hot desking, the increased focus on redevelopment and space modification, new pandemic-related considerations around office location and common spaces, the rise of smart buildings, the renewed importance of occupier due diligence in relation to business resilience, and what all of this means for offices as an investment asset. Stephanie has 19 years' experience in real estate research, strategy and insights across all sub-sectors including commercial, residential and rural. She and her team at BNP Paribas Real Estate undertake strategic insight and market analysis for all UK real estate markets, with emphasis on structural rather than cyclical market shifts. Previously, Stephanie set up and led the research team at Strutt & Parker and before that was the strategic research lead for the Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) team in the UK. Stephanie sits on the Urban Land Institute (ULI) UK Residential Council, the Investment Property Forum (IPF) Research Committee and the British Property Federation (BPF) Compact Living Committee.

IQ-EQ's Jimmy Leong explores the rising significance of ESG investing with two leading voices in the sectorFollowing IQ-EQ's appointment to administer the very first ESG-focused variable capital company (VCC) fund, GoImpact Singapore VCC, Jimmy Leong sat down with GoImpact's founder Helene Li and investment consultant Sasja Beslik to discuss the surge in interest in ESG investing (particularly in light of COVID-19), the latest trends, opportunities and challenges in this space, and how GoImpact is driving forward the sustainable finance agenda in Asia.Helene Li is a seasoned finance industry executive and passionate advocate for sustainable finance. After more than 10 years leading on strategic planning and marketing for the Asia-Pacific region at global financial institutions such as J.P. Morgan, Lombard Odier and BNP Paribas, Helene co-founded GoImpact in January 2019 as an action-driven ecosystem to drive forward the sustainable development agenda in Asia. Having worked in the private wealth space for most of her career, she is committed to leveraging the financial power and heart of the ultra-wealthy to make a positive social and environmental impact. She has spearheaded and curated industry recognised next-gen family business programmes and been a regular contributor to impact and entrepreneurship research throughout her career, and is now a top-ranked sustainable finance influencer.Sasja Beslik, too, is a top-ranked influencer in this space. He is an international financial expert known for promoting sustainable finance across the world, having spent 10 years as head of responsible investments and sustainable finance for Nordea, the largest financial services group in Northern Europe. He joined sustainability-focused Swiss private bank J. Safra Sarasin in 2019, taking up the newly created role of Head of Sustainable Finance Development. He was named ‘Sustainability Leader of the Year by The New Economy magazine in 2017. In 2013, he received the Order of the Seraphim from the King of Sweden for outstanding contributions to Swedish environmental and sustainability theory.

IQ-EQ is pleased to introduce the first in our new CFO e-Lab Series, focused on Singapore's new variable capital company (VCC) regime, which launched in January 2020. The session explored: Is the Singapore VCC creating new opportunities for asset managers looking to unlock ASEAN markets?Feng Fumin, Deputy Director at MAS provided an overview of the Singapore funds landscape and share insight into the development and detail of the VCC framework.Mark Voumard, Founder of Gordian Capital shared his own experience with the VCC structure and discuss its practical advantages.

IQ-EQ's Hugh Stacey discusses the impact of COVID-19 on fund managers with Foot Anstey's Karl Bradford Amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, our Head of Investor Solutions, Hugh Stacey, caught up with Karl Bradford, a legal director at Foot Anstey LLP in the UK, to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on fund managers 

IQ-EQ hosted an exclusive webinar, in collaboration with Real Deals, on Tuesday 28 April 2020.The topic of discussion was “The growing importance of technology in the current private equity landscape” with the panel moderated by Real Deals.IQ-EQ's Justin Partington and Hugh Stacey were joined by Barnaby Piggott from Holland Mountain, Neil Mehta from DWS and Rajen Shah from 17 Capital.

IQ-EQ's Serge Krancenblum recently appeared on the Flex and the City podcast, hosted by FTC Global's Rachel Treece, to discuss his career journey, the importance of having both the IQ and the EQ and how having courage and conviction to take risks can lead to success for financial services firms. 

IQ-EQ hosted an exclusive webinar, in collaboration with Real Deals, on Wednesday 18 March, in conjunction with the launch of our Real Estate white paper.The topic of discussion was “Are investments in real estate an effective hedging tool against the current global economic environment?”.IQ-EQ's Stuart Pinnington was joined by Alastair Balfour, Partner at Metric Capital Partners, Ian Houston, Partner at St Bride's Managers and Stephanie McMahon, Head of Research and Senior Director at BNP Paribas Real Estate.