Investor forum Global Investment Forum Europe

James joined Mercer in 1996 and has 26 years of experience in investments. As a partner, he is responsible for advising a wide range of clients, including FTSE 100 companies, insurance companies and pension schemes. He has held a number of management positions and spearheads Mercer’s thought leadership for UK investment clients. James looks after some of Mercer’s largest client relationships for Investments. He has 18 years of experience as a consultant investment manager researcher. James is a member of the UK Society of Investment Professionals (having passed the Institute of Investment Management and Research qualification) and holds a Bachelor of Arts (with honours) in business and finance. 

Sarika is a principal in Mercer’s Wealth Business and Global Head of Sustainable Investment Research. She leads on building and expanding research coverage of SI investment strategies across asset classes, including those aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, climate transition and other stewardship themes. She also leads on ESG research and integration across asset classes, working with other manager research boutiques to assess how asset managers are integrating ESG into their investment decisions. Sarika is a member of the Strategic Research Group and responsible for intellectual capital focusing on implementable solutions in sustainability themes.

Prior to joining Mercer in 2010, Sarika spent three years at RBC Wealth Management in London within the Advisory and Discretionary business groups. Previously, she spent two years as an equity research associate at Scotia Capital in Toronto, Canada, covering the Canadian Banks and Diversified Financials sectors.

Sarika holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and is a CFA® charterholder.

Jo sits on Mercer’s global leadership team for our Wealth business and chairs a number of our strategic and policy committees. During 2022 she will take over the co-chairmanship of the Investment Consultants Sustainability Working Group.

Jo was previously Chief Investment Officer for Mercer’s UK advisory team and European Strategic Director of Research, a role within which she assumed responsibility for making sure that our diverse client base receives the best of our global research. Jo is also is an investment consultant for a small number of Mercer’s strategic clients.

Jo joined Mercer in 2002 from PwC’s actuarial practice and, after several years as an investment consultant in our Liverpool team, has held a number of client-focused and leadership roles. During 2017 Jo was Defined Benefits Leader for our Liverpool office, where she was responsible for the integration and leadership of the legacy Investment and Funding teams as the Mercer Wealth business was formed. Jo also led the growth of our public sector business and managed strategic client relationships.

Prior to the integration of the investment and actuarial businesses in late 2016, Jo was a member of the leadership team managing Mercer’s UK Investment Business. She also established our successful Manchester Investments team in 2009.

Annabell has 15 years of experience within Investment Management. She joined Mercer from Gard AS were she held the position as Investment Executive and where she was responsible for developing and maintaining their investment platform. Prior to Gard she has many years of experience from institutional sales and client servicing in EMEA from AllianceBernstein, DnB Asset Management and Skandia Investment Management. Annabell holds a MSc in Investment Management from Cass Business School in London and a BSc in Business and Administration from Norwegian School of Management in Oslo.

Rich is Executive Director, Investment and Global Chief Investment Strategist for Mercer. He works with some of Mercer’s largest, most sophisticated clients, and is accountable for Mercer’s “innovation agenda,” including the creation and development of thought leadership and related products and services across the firm. Over the last 30+ years, Rich has provided investment advice to clients in more than 20 countries, including many of the world’s largest institutional investors. He has also led social security and other long term savings reform projects in five countries and one US state. Rich has led Mercer’s work in several projects with the World Economic Forum, including work related to transformational investment, and to the longevity economy. Rich was President of Mercer’s Investments & Retirement business and a member of Mercer’s Executive Leadership team from 2017 to 2022. Prior to that, he led Mercer’s investment management business globally and served in various other leadership capacities while based in Tokyo, Singapore and New York, including serving as global Chief Investment Officer for Mercer’s investment management business. Rich holds an MBA (with high honors) in analytic finance and accounting from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree (with honors) in mathematical sciences and mathematical economic analysis from Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rich also did graduate work in international economics at Tokyo University. He is a CFA® charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute. Rich has repeatedly been named to CIO magazine’s annual list of the world’s most influential investment consultants and received CIO’s 2017 Industry Innovation Award as Consultant of the Year..

Mick is President of Mercer’s Investments and Retirement practice, which includes a diverse portfolio of services and solutions, including investment consulting, open architecture manager-of-managers investment management and retirement actuarial consulting services. 

Since joining Mercer in 1999, Mick has held numerous business and commercial leadership roles across Wealth. Most recently, he was Global Leader of Investment Solutions and Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO). Before leading Mercer’s OCIO business, he served as an investment consultant, leading large client relationships in Europe and developing solutions across the full spectrum of retirement- and investment-related issues.

Mick is a CFA® charterholder and holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in business from the Michael Smurfit UCD Business School in Dublin, Ireland. 

Mick takes great pride in helping clients achieve better financial security and investment outcomes. As a leader, he is committed to supporting colleague growth, fostering a diverse and inclusive working environment, and building collaborative and purpose-driven teams.

Doug was appointed Director of The Natural History Museum in December 2020. 

Previously, Doug was Country Manager of Amazon UK and President of Amazon China. Earlier roles include the civil service, partner at McKinsey & Company, Director at Asda-Walmart and founder CEO of internet start-up Blueheath.

Doug is also Chairman of The Alan Turing Institute, a non-executive director at the Department of Health and Social Care and former Chairman of both the Science Museum and the British Heart Foundation.

Doug has degrees in mathematics from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in computing from the University of Edinburgh. He previously taught mathematics and computing at the University of Aarhus in Denmark.

A partner within Mercer’s Investments business, Helen is currently Head of Investments UK. Based in London, she is responsible for the advice, retention and delivery of all UK clients (including those in the pensions, endowments and foundations, and insurance segments) and manages a team of more than 100 consultants. She is also involved in the leadership of the European Investment Solutions practice and wider UK Wealth. She is also the lead consultant for a number of clients across the UK and Continental Europe. This includes clients ranging in size (up to £9 billion) across a variety of industries and organisational setups. Helen has been with Mercer for more than 18 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree (with honours) in management studies from the University of Nottingham and is a CFA® charterholder.

Dan is a partner and the UK Head of Mercer’s Investments business, helping institutional asset owners achieve their investment goals by providing them with research, advice and solutions. He is responsible for developing and overseeing the execution of Mercer Investments’ growth strategy. Dan sits on Mercer’s Wealth Leadership team and the Investment Solutions European Leadership Committee. Dan has 25 years of experience in investment consulting, institutional asset management, hedge funds and business development, including 18 years at Mercer. 

He started his career with Mercer in New York in 1997 before transferring to London in 2000. During this time, he led the launch and development of Mercer’s UK Delegated Solutions practice from inception in 2006 through 2014. Before re-joining Mercer in 2020, Dan was Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Putnam Investments, leading its institutional client development. Previously, he was Global Head of Consultant Relations at Winton Capital Management.

Dan graduated with honours from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in the US and is a CFA® charterholder.

Nick is a partner in Mercer’s Investments business, based in Sydney. He is Global Strategic Research Director, chair of the Global Strategic Research Committee, and responsible for house views in areas relating to multi-asset-class research and portfolio construction, as well as the development of the strategic research agenda. He is also a member of the Global Investment Policy Committee.

Nick contributes to strategic policy decisions for the suite of Mercer funds in the Pacific market. This aspect of his role formally links Mercer’s strategic best ideas and forward-thinking research to building discretionary portfolios, ensuring Mercer’s best ideas are mapped to all clients’ advice and funds.

Prior to joining Mercer in 2006, Nick gained 13 years of experience with Aon Consulting, where he filled a number of roles, most recently as Head of Manager Research and previously as Head of Client Consulting, both in Sydney. Before relocating to Australia from the UK with Aon in 2004, he was a senior consultant with primary responsibility for asset-liability-modelling projects.

Nick holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Oxford. He is also a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, London.