Panel members

Background 

Matt Hammerstein is the CEO of Barclays UK Corporate Bank. Prior to this Matt was the CEO for Barclays Bank UK, covering Retail Banking, Business Banking and Barclaycard UK. He was the former Head of Retail Lending, covering both the secured and unsecured lending businesses.

Matt joined Barclays in 2004 as Director of Group Strategy, later progressing to become the Group Chief of Staff; a key strategic role in which he provided vital support to the Group CEO during the financial crisis. Matt went on to manage Barclays Group Corporate Strategy and Corporate Relations, Barclays Customer and Client Experience in Retail and Business Banking and Barclays UK Retail Products and Segments. 

Before Joining Barclays, Matt was a Senior Management Consultant at Marakon Associates where he worked for 12 years in the financial services, consumer products and energy sectors within the Americas and Europe.  

Matt graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Matt is a member of the Group Executive Committee and Charities Aid Foundation America Board. Matt is also an active ambassador in Barclays for inclusion, wellbeing and anything that makes the workplace more fun.    

Eric has spent his career at major global organisations and has extensive asset management experience. Prior to joining L&G, Eric was President and Chief Executive Officer of PGIM, Private Alternatives where he led the private alternative strategies, investments and client financing solutions across private credit, agriculture, real estate, infrastructure and private equity.

Before joining PGIM in 2010, Eric was a senior Managing Director and Co-Head of Europe for Tishman Speyer. Eric has also previously worked for Morgan Stanley Real Estate, where he led investment activities in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

Eric is a founding member of the European Advisory Board of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at the Wharton School and member of the GFANZ Principals Group which sets strategic direction and priorities for GFANZ and monitors progress. Also, he is Chairman of The Academy of Real Assets, a UK organisation that aims to have a significant positive impact on diversity within the real assets industry through philanthropic and educational activities with underserved youth.

Eric has a bachelor's degree in business administration, summa cum laude, from University of Arizona. In addition, he holds a graduate business degree from HEC Business School in France. Eric is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Investment Association

Background 

Chira joined Lloyds Banking Group in May 2023, as CEO, Scottish Widows and CEO, Insurance, Pensions & Investments, helping over 10 million customers to plan for unexpected events in life, save for their futures and enjoy retirement. 

Prior to joining the Group, Chira was Global Head of Strategy at HSBC. Chira has extensive experience in financial services having worked as a partner at Mckinsey & Company and Managing Director at Sanford C. Bernstein. Earlier in his career, he held strategy, management and operational roles at Standard Chartered and Citigroup in India.
 

José Carvalho is the CEO of Wealth & Personal Banking for HSBC UK. This includes responsibility for HSBC UK Retail & Wealth Management businesses, UK Private Bank, first direct, and M&S Bank. José has over 25 years’ experience in financial services, operating in large global consumer businesses in the UK, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa.

Prior to joining HSBC, José led the Barclays Consumer Product business with accountability for also leading deep technology changes in the bank’s infrastructure. This followed his role as the Barclays Head of Unsecured Lending (including Barclaycard), and key executive roles in Payments, Lending & Partnerships for American Express, in both the Consumer, SME and Corporate lines of business, across 40+ countries. Prior to that José had several Finance, Product, Marketing and Commercialisation roles at Lloyds Bank (UK), C&A Bank (Brazil) and CCF Bank (Brazil).

José has an Engineering degree from Escola Politécnica in Brazil and holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University in the USA.

Tara is the CEO of AXA UK and Ireland, responsible for Retail, Commercial and Health businesses serving over 7 million customers and employing 10,000 colleagues. She has over 20 years’ leadership experience in insurance and banking and is recognised as one of the top five leaders in the Insurance Post annual power list for 2025.

Prior to this, Tara was the CEO of AXA UK Retail, where she managed the Personal Motor and Home products, leading the implementation of FCA reforms such as GI pricing practices (GIPP) and Consumer Duty, improving transparency and outcomes for customers. She also launched AXA’s digital-only brand, MOJA.

Before joining AXA, Tara spent 12 years at Lloyds Banking Group in senior executive roles, including Managing Director of Bank of Scotland, with responsibility for over 2,000 colleagues and 200 branches. She also head leadership roles at Deutsche Bank and at Accenture. During her career, she gained extensive experience in the start-up environment, supporting the implementation of technical solutions and market entry strategies across multiple industries.

Tara graduated with a degree in Psychology and holds a Master’s degree in Organisation Psychology, both from University College Dublin.

She actively advocates for diversity and inclusion, championing initiatives that support neurodiversity, female leadership, and workforce development. In 2018, she was named one of 100 ‘Women to Watch’ in Cranfield University’s FTSE Board Report.

Throughout her career, Tara has led organisations through significant transformation, aligning commercial ambition with customer outcomes and regulatory responsibili

Steve is Chief Executive of the Coventry Building Society and was appointed to the Board in 2020.  Before joining the Society, Steve had been Chief Executive of Principality Building Society, and Finance Director of the Lloyds Banking Group General Insurance businesses.  Steve has broad transformation, financial and operational experience in senior and board level roles within financial services and consumer goods sectors.

He is passionate about leadership, has a strong belief in the benefit of the mutual model and is positive about the role a responsible business can have on society, as well as supporting colleagues to be the best they can be. Steve also held the role of Non-Executive Director on the main board of UK Finance and Chair of the audit and risk committee of UK Finance.

Steve is a member of the BSA Council. Advisory board member of the Money and Pension Service, and member of the Payments Advisory Board for the Pennies Foundation.
 

Steven has over 25 years’ experience in financial services across multiple countries. He was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of Quilter plc in November 2022. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of Quilter’s platform and asset management businesses. He started his career in asset management working on the buy side. He also has extensive experience in product and proposition development and large-scale transformation programmes. Steven is a Member of the Investment Association Advisory Council and Chair of the Quilter Foundation.

Appointed as Group Chief Executive on 8 November 2024, having joined Schroders in October 2023 as a Director and Chief Financial Officer.

He is a chartered accountant and was Network Vice Chairman and Global Markets Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) until October 2023 where he led all market-facing activities, initiatives, and strategy. Prior to this he was a member of PwC’s UK Executive Board for five years during which he was Head of Clients and Markets and latterly Head of Strategy and Communications. He also led the UK firm's Banking and Capital Markets Assurance practice and was part of the Assurance Leadership team. His experience includes time spent working across Africa, Europe, Asia and North America.

Trustee and Audit Committee and Chair of The Duke of Edinburgh International Award Foundation.

Chris Rhodes is President of ICE Futures Europe, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.’s (NYSE: ICE) London-based global futures and options exchange. Previously, Rhodes served as Chief Operating Officer of ICE Clear Europe.

Between 2019 and 2021, Rhodes was Chief Risk Officer at financial trading firm Tyler Capital. In this role, Rhodes spearheaded efforts to adopt ‘High Reliability’ principles to strengthen enterprise-wide operational resilience in the context of AI based technologies.

Rhodes first joined ICE in 2016, becoming Global Head of Derivatives, responsible for ICE’s interest rate and equity derivatives complex. During this time, Rhodes led product development efforts to transition LIBOR products to their ARR equivalents. Rhodes has more than 14 years’ trading experience in the derivatives market, including as a founding partner at Arc Derivatives and senior trader at Investec Bank UK.

Rhodes holds a first-class honours degree in Economics.
 

Will Self is Chief Executive Officer of The InvestAcc Group (formally Marwyn MAC II) and has extensive experience across pension, wealth and retirement services sectors. Previously Will was Chief Executive Officer of Curtis Banks Group PLC and prior to this he was Chief Executive Officer of Suffolk Life and Chief Commercial Officer of Cofunds, both divisions of Legal & General.

As Chief Executive Officer he will be responsible, alongside the Board, for leading the development and execution of the overall company strategy, building a market leading intergenerational wealth business.

During his time at Curtis Banks and Suffolk Life, Will led one of the SIPP industry’s first consolidation initiatives integrating the “Full” SIPP book from Pointon York in 2012. He then led the merger with Curtis Banks in 2016 and subsequent integration to a single brand and operating model.

Will is also a Trustee of the Seckford Foundation and holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management.
 

In his role as General Manager for EMEA and Chairman of the UK Board, Pete is responsible for leading Worldpay’s work with some of the world’s largest and best-known brands, enabling them to take reliable and secure payments in store and online, whilst also helping them grow by entering new markets and innovate to serve their customers in new ways. Pete joined Worldpay in 2011 and has deep knowledge of the global payments landscape, with over 30 years of commercial experience within the finance and payments industry, having also held senior roles at Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays. He is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse team and is a valued coach and mentor in the industry, sitting on the UAE board and Director of several Worldpay’s European entities.