Confirmed speakers for the LSE Global Pensions Programme 2016:

Professor Nicholas Barr, LSE

Professor Nicholas Barr is Professor of Public Economics at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He holds an MSc in Economics from LSE and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. Professor Barr is the author of numerous books and articles on the economics of the welfare state and the finance of higher education, including The Economics of the Welfare State (Oxford University Press, 5th edition, 2012), and Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices, co-author with 2010 Nobel Laureate Peter Diamond (Oxford University Press, 2008). He is a member of the Editorial Board of the International Social Security Review and an Associate Editor of CESifo Economic Studies, the Australian Economic Review and the Journal of the Economics of Ageing. His teaching includes public economics, the economics of the welfare state, the political economy of post-communist transition and topics in public policy.

Dr Solange Berstein, IDB

Dr Solange Berstein graduated from the Universidad de Santiago de Chile as an economist and has a Master's degree in Economics from ILADES/Georgetown University. She completed her PhD in Economics at Boston University. She worked in the Studies Division at the Superintendence of Pension Funds in Chile between 1994 and 1997 and was head of this division from 2003 until February 2006. After completing her PhD she worked as a senior economist in the Central Bank of Chile and has been a consultant for the World Bank in pension matters.

Dr Berstein has been involved in pension issues for 20 years and has written articles related to pensions on a broad set of topics: investment of pension funds, competition in the pension fund industry and coverage of the contributory pension system in Chile. She was appointed as Superintendent of Pension Fund Administrators in March 2006 and was Head of the Pensions Supervisory Authority in Chile and Chair of the IOPS Technical Committee until March 2014. She is currently Principal Pension Specialist for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Mr Eduardo Alves de Castro, Santander Asset Management Brazil

Mr Castro is the Chief Investment Officer of Santander Brazil Asset Management and oversees the management of more than USD 50 billion in Brazilian investment funds. He joined Santander Asset Management as Head of Fixed Income in August 2007, with the acquisition of ABN AMRO's subsidiary in Brazil by Santander Group. With more than 22 years of experience, Mr Castro began his career being responsible for trading and asset modelling at OptiRisk Investment Fund, an emerging markets fund management firm. In 1999 he joined ABN AMRO Asset Management (AAAM) in Brazil, and throughout his career he has been responsible for most of the AAAM’s Brazilian fixed income funds. This has included money markets, fixed-income to multi-strategy funds and discretionary portfolios. He concluded his career at AAAM Brazil as CIO for both fixed-income and equities divisions, a position held at SAM Brazil since March 2011.

Mr Castro holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of São Paulo USP (São Paulo, Brazil) and concluded his graduate studies with a BA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas – FGV (São Paulo, Brazil). He also holds an EMBA degree from Business School (São Paulo, Brazil) with an extension at Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto (Canada).

Dr Carmen Pages Serra, IDB

Dr Carmen Pages Serra is the Chief Executive of the Labour Markets Unit at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a unit created in 2009 to lead all technical and operational work related to labour markets and social security. A native of Spain, she holds an MA in Economics from the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona and a PhD in Economics from Boston University. Previously, Carmen was a principal research economist at the research department of the same institution, and a senior labour economist at the World Bank.

She has published extensively in leading academic and policy journals. In addition, she has published the books Better Pensions, Better Jobs: Toward Universal Coverage in Latin America and the Caribbean (jointly with M. Boscn and A. Melguizo); Social Insurance, Informality and the Labour Markets: How to Protect Workers While Creating Good Jobs (jointly with M. Frolich, D. Kaplan, J. Rigolini and D. Robalino); The Age of Productivity: Transforming Economies from the Bottom Up, the annual flagship publication of the IDB in 2010; Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean (jointly with the Nobel Laureate Prof. James Heckman); Good Jobs Wanted: Labour Markets in Latin America and the Caribbean and Job Creation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Recent Trends and Policy Challenges (jointly with S. Scarpetta and G. Pierre).

Ms Luciane Ribeiro, Santander Asset Management Brazil

Ms Luciane Ribeiro is responsible for Santander Brazil Asset Management, as Chief Executive Officer. She started at BankBoston in 1983 and in 1985 she moved to Banco Safra, where she spent more than 20 years. Initially appointed as Wealth Manager of shareholders' assets, in 2002 she became Executive Director for the Asset Management Unit. In 2006, Ms Ribeiro was invited to take the role of Latin America’s CEO at ABN AMRO Asset Management. In 2008, she was chosen to assume the position of CEO of Santander Brazil Asset Management, being responsible for the integration of both asset management units, leading an extensive process involving the operations and professionals of both banks. Ms Ribeiro was also a member of the Advisory Council of PRI – Principles for Responsible Investments, for four years (2011-2014).

Today, besides CEO of the firm, she is also Vice President of the Council of Regulation and Best Practices for Investment Funds in ANBIMA – Brazilian Financial and Capital Markets Association. Luciane holds a degree in Economics from Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado – FAAP (São Paulo, Brazil).

Dr Edgar Robles, Novaster

Dr Edgar Robles graduated in Economics from the University of Costa Rica and has a Master’s and PhD in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has ten years of experience as a national and international consultant. He has advised governments and other private institutions. 

From 2002-2015, he worked in the Superintendence of Pensions of Costa Rica, an institution in charge of the financial regulation of this sector, where he was appointed as the Superintendent of Pensions in 2010. There, he developed the risk-based supervision model with technical help from the World Bank, based on the principles of the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS), where he was the Vice President between 2012 and 2015. This association is managed by the OECD and integrates pension regulators from more than 80 countries and regions around the world.

Dr Robles is now an Associate Consultant at Novaster. He works in the Dominican Republic and Honduras on IADB projects to improve the coverage of social security and the investment regulations of pension funds.

Dr Diego Valero, Novaster

Dr Diego Valero is a Professor at the University of Barcelona. He holds a PhD in Economics and Actuary from the University of Barcelona and graduated in Management from IESE. Dr Valero is Honorary Chairman of the 2008 MBA and Executive MBA by ICADE. He is Co-Founder and Chairman of Novaster, a pensions consulting company. He works as a consultant for many companies and governments around the world, with extensive experience in Latin America. Dr Valero is Vice-President at the SpainSif (Spanish forum for responsible investment), Vice-President at the "Pacto Generacional" Foundation (to strengthen the social transfer from elders to youth), and has been President of the pensions consulting association Ocopen for ten years. He is author of several books and articles, and speaks internationally on social security and pension funds.

​Mr Waldo Tapia, IDB

Mr ​Waldo Tapia is a senior specialist in the Labour Markets Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Since joining the IDB in 2008, he has been responsible for the preparation and development of several projects in the field of pensions, in countries such as Belize, Chile, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay. He has also participated in different international conferences on best practices in the pensions sector. Prior to joining IDB, he worked in the Private Pensions Unit of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, where he coordinated studies on regulation and supervision of private pension systems. Waldo taught in the Escuela de Economía Agraria of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He has a Master’s degree in public policy from the Korean Development Institute School of Public Management of Seoul, Korea, and a Master’s in economic theory and econometrics from Toulouse
School of Economics, France.

​Mr David Stewart, Director of Strategic Institutional Solutions at Santander Asset Management

​Mr David Stewart joined Santander Asset Management UK as Chief Investment Officer in May 2012. His 25 years of experience in investment management includes 17 years at CIO level in sovereign wealth, international banks, insurance companies and institutional and private wealth, including organisations in Europe, the Middle East and North America. He was industry recognised as one of the UK’s highest rated global multi-asset investors (CityWire AAA rating). He has a Master’s degree with Honours in Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh, and an MBA from the Cass Business School, London.

​Mr Ash Williams, Florida State Board of Administration (SBA)

Mr Ash Williams is the Executive Director & CIO of the Florida State Board of Administration (SBA). Over $150 billion in assets are under management, including those of the Florida Retirement System (FRS) Trust Fund. The FRS is the fourth largest public pension fund in the United States.

​Prior to joining the SBA, Mr Williams was a Managing Director at Fir Tree Partners and was previously President and CEO of Schroder Capital Management, both headquartered in New York City. He has extensive experience with both the SBA and Florida government, having previously served as Executive Director of the SBA from 1991 to 1996 and in senior management positions in Florida’s executive and legislative branches.

​Mr Williams holds both BS and MBA degrees from Florida State University (FSU) and completed postgraduate programmes at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Mr Williams serves as Chairman of the Florida State University Foundation, an advisory board member of the Robert Toigo Foundation, and a leadership council member of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.