Chris Budd founded financial planning company Ovation Finance Ltd in 2000. He sold a majority of Ovation to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) in March 2018.

He is the author of six books, including the original book about financial wellbeing which he wrote in 2015, The Financial Wellbeing Book, and The Four Cornerstones of Financial Wellbeing, was published in 2023. He has also published three novels with a fourth in progress.

Chris has been writing The Financial Wellbeing Podcast since 2016. He founded the Institute for Financial Wellbeing (IFW) to bring together financial advisers and planners who want to focus on their clients’ happiness, not just their money.

Chris lives in Somerset, UK, with his family and too many guitars.

Dave looks forward. Towards The Future of the World of Work. Positive, encouraging, engaging, challenging and upbeat on topics including AI, big data, digitalization, emerging technologies and much more, he looks at how to combine “humans plus machines” to achieve the best results. His view is not nihilistic. It’s not Armageddon. It’s about being open, engaging and engaged, people-facing, achievable and relevant.

Dave’s thorough approach to tailoring his presentations is reflected in excellent feedback. Invited to speak worldwide for companies (including in law, finance, banks, engineering, construction, schools and universities, food and drink, tech, and more) his tell-it-as-he-sees-it honesty, and a light-hearted approach always inspire, enthuse, and entertain. He helps audiences to think differently and creatively. His mission is to help people see how technology can help them work smarter. Not harder.

Dave’s work as a published thought leader allows him to begin new conversations with audiences to resonate at all levels about the changing nature of work, which requires greater flexibility, collaboration, creativity and innovation.

His clients include Google, Facebook, Vodafone, Dropbox, Connect Plus M25, UBM, New Civil Engineer, CIPD, Communisis, The Law Society, London Business Forum, Richmond Housing Partnership, MCA Insight, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Baillie Gifford, Richmond Events, Gladstone Software, PHD Dubai, The Economist, Mizuho International Bank, Business Centre Association, Mind The Product, Association of Relocation Professionals, Public Service Manager’s Association, Lucy Cavendish College (University of Cambridge) and Nickelodeon.

In December 2017, Dave was invited to open, and to close, the Children’s Global Media Summit over three days in Manchester UK. HRH Prince William was the keynote speaker on Day Two of this important, global event.

Following his success headlining at the Cheltenham Science Festival in 2019 (speaking on the future of the world of work and education) Dave was invited back for multiple sessions in 2020/2021.

Technology geekdom is in Dave’s DNA. A life-long Star Trek fan, he is a former Crystal Maze winner: these attributes all combine to create this friendly, approachable, optimistic, beardy, pony-tailed alchemist.  With over 25 years in the technology industry (and via his former “day job” as “Chief Envisioning Officer” at Microsoft) Dave is at the forefront of conversations on how individuals and organisations could benefit from the transformational potential of technology, rather than simply using it to do the same things… but only slightly better.

At Destination Star Trek, he went onstage to speak about a subject close to his heart – how technology, and even innovations referenced in Star Trek, are being brought to life now, changing the way we live and work forever.  One of the most influential people in the digital industry, he was nominated as one of the Drum’s Digerati (2013, 2014) BIMA’s Hot 100 (2013) and the Digital Marketing Show’s “Class of 2014”.

Bringing new and exciting thinking to the world of work, Dave’s books Business Reimagined and The Rise of the Humans discuss the need to rethink how we use technology to make it work for us, not against us. The books sold over 12,500 copies. Dave is working on his next book.

The Rise of the Humans (2014) shines a light on the deluge of digital information which surrounds us in work and in life, threatening to overwhelm us. Dave argues that the sheer volume of information often prevents us from ever going deep into subjects and it constrains us from getting the much-needed headspace to think. He claims this deluge often leads us to “snack” on data in a way that’s unhealthy for our minds, working styles and, most importantly, our lives.

With a loyal audience on social media, Dave is a prominent and regular voice at leading industry events and platforms including the RSA, WorkTech, and Cloud World Forum. He was a guest on Sunday Brunch (C4) 31 Dec 2017. His RSA Animate video on the need to re-imagine work has generated over 800,000 YouTube hits to date.  His point of view resonates widely.

Addressing the intersection of modern society technology through his public speaking and published work, Dave is spearheading the development of the UK’s IT and digital industries by helping people to understand and aspire to greater outcomes from our use of technology.

Dave is an authority in the industry, on a broad range of topics and a regular contributor in UK and Pan-EMEA media including the BBC, The Telegraph and The Guardian on topics from the future of education, privacy and on-line safety, right through to the Big Data rock stars and the impact of Machine Learning.

“We need strategies and tools that help us better to cope with information – and focus on what matters.

But how do we sift through what’s important and what’s not?

How do we decide when to tune in, and when to tune out?”

The Rise of the Humans, Dave Coplin, 2014

“I believe that within every individual inside an organisation lies an “intrapreneur” – an innate desire to make things better either directly for themselves, or indirectly by making their organisation better.

Our main cultural challenge is how organisations not only create an environment that supports this, but equally how they learn to live with the occasional chaos that can come with it.”

The Rise of the Humans, Dave Coplin, 2014

Invited as principal keynote speaker at Children’s Global Media Summit (hosted by the BBC: December 2017), he wrote: 

“We continue to raise our children with a mindset that was forged in the fires of the 19th century. As a result, we are preparing our children for a world that no longer exists.  Unless we fundamentally change the way in which we think about, engage with and educate our children, we risk being derelict in our duty as the guardians of their future, as we send them out into a world for which they are simply not prepared.  The Rise of the Humans seeks to re-dress this balance by helping the next generation to embrace the incredible opportunity technology offers us and, in so doing, enables them to live up to the potential of evolving technology, rather than to be constrained by it”.

David is a Senior Counsel at The Pensions Ombudsman. His role includes legal support to the Ombudsman and other staff on individual complaints, as well as wider policy issues. Previously, he spent several years in the pensions team at Eversheds Sutherland, advising trustees and employers on running their pension schemes and implementing change.

Joe is a communication specialist, a best-selling author, screenwriter and speaker. He’s developed communication strategies for pension schemes, investment firms, insurers and financial institutions, big and small. His work at Quietroom is all about making complicated or difficult messages more meaningful to more people. He specialises in engaging a reluctant audience and using the tools of a storyteller to bring unloved subjects to life.

Kieran is a Senior Business Development Manager at Standard Life, responsible for origination and execution of buy-ins and buy-outs. Kieran works with consultants, trustees and sponsors who are seeking to de-risk their pension schemes. Kieran was previously a pensions risk transfer consultant, including leading propositions focused on alternative risk transfer.

Katya Gorbatiouk has over 20 years of experience in international capital markets. As Head of Investment Funds in Primary Capital Markets, Katya is responsible for driving the growth and liquidity of the London listed funds market, a conduit of capital into vital sectors of the economy, such as infrastructure, energy transition and innovation. Katya is also a member of the Group Sustainability working group.
From February 2022 Katya serves on the Best Practice Committee of the Board of the Investor Relations Society. She is Chair of its Best Practice for Sustainability Communications sub-committee and a member of its IR Communications and Engagement sub-committee. She served on the judging panel for the IR Society Best Practice Awards in ESG Communications. Her articles on the evolution of investor communications and engagement were published in the recent issues of the IR Society Journal Informed.
From March 2023 Katya is a member of the Stakeholder Insight Group of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), that acts as an external adviser to the FRC on opportunities and potential areas of focus related to corporate governance and investor stewardship.
Katya previously chaired the Board Effectiveness & Stakeholder Governance working group at the Institute of Directors’ Centre for Corporate Governance. She has co-authored an IoD publication on best practice of enacting a stakeholder-centric approach by corporate boards. She led the creation of the Centre’s content on topics related to board effectiveness.
Katya is a Freeman of the City of London. She has been a long-standing board member of organisations with high social impact, such as the Global Leaders Institute (Washington DC) and London Music Fund, and other prominent institutions such as UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies and London Symphony Orchestra.

Mohammed is responsible for listed Investor Relations for HICL Infrastructure PLC, the LSE-listed core infrastructure investment company managed by InfraRed, as well as TRIG, the LSE-listed renewables investment company co-managed by InfraRed. He leads the team that manages investor communication, financial reporting and fundraising for both HICL and TRIG.

Before joining InfraRed in 2018, he was an equity research analyst at Citi, a US investment bank, where he worked in the European Utilities team covering renewables and worked on a number of European renewables Initial Public Offerings (IPO). He has more than 9 years of experience in public markets and more than 8 years of experience in infrastructure and renewables.

He is also a Chartered Accountant, holding the ACA qualification from the ICAEW.

Nick has worked for over 20 years developing a range of complex software applications from small specialist solutions to enterprise wide policy administration systems. He combines in-depth expertise in a wide range of technologies with an excellent grasp of the practicalities of financial services operations.

Shehzad is a Senior Professional Trustee and is fully accredited by the APPT accredited. He has been a trustee for nearly 20 years, during which he has worked on some of the most high profile cases in the industry.

Shehzad is well-known for his inclusive and collaborative style as well as being open to innovation as well as traditional approaches to trusteeship to achieve best outcomes. He has has worked with household names and chaired boards for schemes from as small as £1m to £3bn+.

He has been Head of Professional Corporate Sole Trusteeship and Risk Transfer at another trustee firm where he implemented the APPT’s Code of Practice that he co-authored.

Shehzad has wider experience of journey planning, leading restructures and has worked on cases with regulatory oversight, including those with in-depth and complex funding negotiations. He has also worked at the Pension Protection Fund, managing its legal panel.

As well as being APMI accredited, Shehzad has experience from outside the pensions industry as forensic expert witness and attaining lean sigma qualifications.

When Shehzad is not supporting his clients, he enjoys spending his spare time with his family and travelling with them to new destinations. He enjoys various sports and is always keen to try new activities time permitting.

Sarah sits in the Group Strategy team at Phoenix Group, supporting the business to deliver its purpose of helping people to achieve a lifetime of possibilities, bringing a regulatory slant to strategy development. Sarah has led Phoenix’s response to Solvency II reforms, developing the house view on reform proposals, and coordinating the Group’s response. Before joining Phoenix in 2021, Sarah worked at the Bank of England, advising the Financial Policy Committee on the impact of Solvency II reforms on productive investment and prior to this at the PRA, in the actuarial team supervising insurance firms.

Stuart is CEO of mallowstreet, the online and events platform for the UK institutional pensions industry. mallowstreet's goal is to help provide a better pension for everyone. After sustained and impressive growth it now has over 3,400 community members, and is establishing a presence in Europe and China. Prior to this role, Stuart worked at Redington, where he helped launch mallowstreet in 2009. Having graduated from Drexel University with an MBA, followed by several years at Susquehanna International Group in Philadelphia, Stuart moved to the UK to complete an Msc in Social Planning and Policy at the LSE in 2006. He’s still here and in his free time enjoys running and travel.

Sarah joined the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) at the start of 2015. In addition to being the Deputy Director, she also manages the PPI's research programme and policy research and modelling teams.

She has presented and spoken at numerous events on a range of topics, including the Pensions Framework, the self-employed, lessons from around the international pensions world, tax relief, complexity of consumer decision making and consumer engagement.

Sarah brings over thirty years’ experience in financial services having started in the corporate world working for a FTSE 100 composite insurance company before moving into management consultancy and has held senior roles in strategy, marketing and customer services. Throughout her career, both in the UK and overseas Sarah has used qualitative and quantitative research to ensure that outcomes are customer focused.

In January 2021 Sarah was appointed to the PLSA’s Policy Board.

In her spare time, Sarah looks after a menagerie of pets and animals and is an apiarist and gardener.

Sarah has a BSc in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Manchester and an MBA in International Business and Corporate Finance.

Tim Hodgson is Head of the UK DC Platforms and Retirement Solutions business. Tim and team deliver high quality investment solutions and relationship management to insurers, platforms & independent Master Trusts in both the Retail DC and Wealth marketplaces. Mr Hodgson has led the team since mid 2018 having joined from iShares at the end of 2014 where he was head of the UK Regional Sales Team. Mr Hodgson holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics from Cardiff University.

Tom focuses on product development in London Stock Exchange’s equity capital markets team, leading on the Exchange’s development of a crossover market seeking to join up private and public markets which intends to make use of HMT’s proposed PISCES regulatory framework. Tom has been at the exchange for 11 years, working within product, policy and regulatory roles spanning the London Stock Exchange’s AIM and Main Market trading venues focusing on primary market development. Tom is a chartered accountant who worked in PwC’s Insurance and Investment Management practice prior to joining the exchange.

Tim is a Partner in the Forensic Services team at Crowe and leads the Firm’s cyber security and counter fraud work.
Tim also chairs the Cybercrime and Fraud Working Groups at both the Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) and Pensions Research Accountants Group (PRAG) and regularly provides guidance to the sector.
Tim works with pension schemes to ensure that they are appropriately protected against the latest manifestations of cybercrime and fraud in line with the expectations set by the Regulator. He helps them assess their resilience, remove known vulnerabilities and build long-term strategies to manage their cyber and fraud risk.
Tim’s team is made up of accredited information security and counter fraud specialists, making them uniquely placed to identify and support on the key threats to schemes.
He regularly delivers both technical-led and governance-focused cyber security projects for pension schemes in addition to other public bodies, private companies and charities, with organisations ranging in size from small to large.
Tim has a keen interest in understanding the latest threats to organisations and leads Crowe’s thought leadership in this area. He has recently carried out research with the University of Portsmouth’s Centre for Cybercrime and Economic Crime into how cybercrime ‘businesses’ use the Dark Web to attack organisations, speaking on the topic at many industry events. He also co-authored the latest ‘Annual Fraud Indicator’ which measures the true colossal cost of fraud in the UK