Julie Vasadi Partner, Head of ESG Due Diligence Transaction Services KPMG AUSTRALIA

As KPMG Australia’s Head of ESG Due Diligence practice, Julie provides her clients with critical insights on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks and value creation opportunities which can seal or break a deal. The way a target company handles ESG issues can affect long-term performance and valuation and the monetary value of identifying risks and upsides related to ESG at the pre-signing stage makes ESG due diligence critical.

She has been advising publicly listed and large private clients across all sectors on ESG strategy, reporting and assurance, in Australia and internationally, for over 15 years and has worked across all parts of the investment lifecycle.

She understands how the effective management of environmental and social issues such as GHG emissions, climate risk, modern slavery and circularity, combined with transparent reporting will play an increasing role in helping companies succeed.

Julie believes the quality of ESG data and information should be investment-grade and akin to financial information to enable investors to make critical investment decisions. Focus on financial analysis alone represents a shrinking percentage of the information that the market considers important and over the past decade, there has been a significant shift towards non-financial analysis being used to uncover risks and opportunities.

Julie was the co-author of KPMG Australia’s Impact Plan and KPMG’s bi-annual thought leadership publication Sustainability Reporting Survey that explores global and Australian trends in sustainability reporting.

Suzanne Tavill Global Head of Responsible Investment, Partner STEPSTONE

Ms. Tavill is the global head of responsible investment, leading all ESG and impact initiatives across all businesses and investment strategies at StepStone Group, a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions and advisory and data services to some of the most sophisticated investors in the world. With more than US$548 billion of private markets allocations, including over US$127 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2021, StepStone covers the spectrum of opportunities in private markets across the globe. Ms. Tavill is also a member of the private equity team.

Prior to StepStone, Ms. Tavill was responsible for AMP Capital’s global alternative investment platform that included private equity, infrastructure and real assets. Before that she spent five years at Van Eyk Research in Sydney, the last four as head of research. Before moving to Australia, she was an executive director at Goldman Sachs Investment Management, responsible for their UK small-and mid-cap portfolios.

Ms. Tavill received a MSc in finance and economics from the London School of Economics, in addition to a BBS with honors in economics and honors in finance from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Edwina Matthew Investment Director, Sustainable Investments, APAC WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT

Edwina leads Wellington Management’s sustainability efforts in APAC. In this role, she works closely with local investors across all asset classes to help them incorporate ESG considerations into investment processes, leverage Wellington’s extensive sustainability resources, and interpret regulatory requirements and implications on investment processes. She also partners with APAC-based ESG analysts to understand regional issues and demands. Before joining Wellington Management in 2022, Edwina worked at Pendal Group in Sydney, where she was head of responsible investing (2016 – 2022).

Natasha Morris Managing Director, Responsibility and Impact ADAMANTEM CAPITAL

Natasha Morris has been Adamantem Capital’s Director of Responsible Investing since 2019, responsible for developing and implementing a best practice responsible investing strategy which is fully integrated across the investment decision making process and portfolio company stewardship activities. This supports Adamantem’s ambition to deliver outstanding financial returns to investors alongside positive social and environmental outcomes.

Natasha has worked across both the private sector and the social impact sector over the past twenty years in both Australia and the UK. Before joining Adamantem Capital, Natasha was focused on impact investing, venture philanthropy, operations and strategy in the social sector (including at Social Ventures Australia). Prior to that Natasha’s private sector career included working in infrastructure investing in the investment team (at Hastings Funds Management) and project and infrastructure finance law (at King & Wood Mallesons in Australia and Norton Rose in the UK).

Natasha holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales and a Graduate Certificate in Social Impact from the University of New South Wales.

Carl Prins Co-Founder and CEO PATHZERO

With previous positions including CFO to one of Europe’s top 25 hedge funds, Co-Founder and CEO of energy technology company Handled, and CFO at Reinventure, Carl Prins’ unique background spanning funds management, technology and energy markets uniquely places him to lead Pathzero on its mission to accelerate the decarbonisation of the global economy.

Growing up in an off-grid home in South Africa, Carl has always had a personal passion for climate change. As he pursued a professional career in finance, he realised that global capital markets have the power to make a radical impact on decarbonisation by directing investment towards low-carbon organisations. However, this positive influence was not being utilised, mainly due to the lack of a standardised approach to implementing carbon accounting standards, combined with poor transparency around emissions data relating to their investments. Seeing the opportunity to combine accounting knowledge with the power of technology, Carl founded Pathzero to organise this information and make it accessible through a SaaS-based platform, so that businesses around the world can make an impact on our race to zero emissions.

Qualifications:

• Chartered Accountant (SAICA)
• Climate Active Registered Consultant