Ambassadors - Transparency Task Force

Andre Mirabelli

Andre is focused on creating mathematical models whose concepts are carefully true to the meanings ascribed to them, so that their evaluation provides reliable information to users.

He began his career in finance building fixed income pricing models, and has worked, done research and published in physics, the foundations of physics, epistemology, and broadly in ex post financial analysis with particular emphasis on decision evaluation.

He has a B.S. from The Cooper Union and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Boston University.

Lynne Coombes

I have worked in insurance for many years starting as a Claims Handler and Loss Adjuster. Moving to HSBC to work with VIP and Commercial Insurance, I joined Dave West and Paul Holton-Frances in the bond schemes in 2003 becoming Manager of the Section. The team headed up bond security for England & Wales, Northern Ireland and she was at the forefront of the launch of the scheme for Scotland.

Leaving Gallaghers and setting up Security Bonds Limited (SBL) in 2018 with Paul Holton-Frances, joined later by Dave West, the Appointee Bond was launched to market with the help of Sean Tyrer from Money Carer Foundation later that year, providing much needed safety for vulnerable people relying on benefits.

A new bond for Powers of Attorney was launched by us in 2020 for England & Wales, Scotland and a bond will shortly be available in Northern Ireland.

Being passionate about providing financial safety, the mission statement of TTF is close to our hearts and I am honoured to have been asked to be an ambassador, it was one of the easiest decisions I have had to make.

Making the financial sector more accountable and transparent will be an ongoing task for some time but the joined up approach that TTF offers brings like-minded people to the table and that can only make the message more powerful and difficult to ignore.

Sarah Hutchinson

A Chartered Accountant and Operations professional with proven experience of project managing change projects. Experience has been gained in various fields in the financial sector latterly focused on pensions, investment management and custody. Previously experience gained in outsourcing at a third party fund administrator, and stock broking administration including extensive experience of system selections and implementations.

Since leaving BA Pension I have had various adventures and have worked as an Independent Consultant on a number of projects including COREP reporting for brokers, raising awareness of securities litigation and promoting fund selection for auto enrolment.

I have been a Trustee of The Elizabeth Foundation since 2014 and am currently Treasurer.

Richard Kent

Richard brings 20 years of experience in launching and developing investment platforms, product structuring and governance to the Tontine Trust Team. With a background in product development, due diligence and regulatory governance, and implementing operational infrastructures he has a wealth of experience in delivering best practice investment solutions for investors at tier 1 institutions. Richard is familiar with key legal and regulatory regimes including Irish Pensions Act, EU PEPP Regulations, AIFMD and UCITS.

Hamish Macalister

Hamish is a RegTech and FinTech inventor, and data scientist. Hamish is CEO of Transparently; a firm that provides machine learning/AI solutions focused on identification of corporate malfeasance. Hamish has completed projects in partnership with both private and public (government) entities, is a technical advisor for fintech projects, an international speaker on quantitative finance topics and is an adjunct faculty member within Singapore Management University’s Economics department. Hamish has also been an award-winning quantitative portfolio manager, and headed strategy and quant teams at organizations such as Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.

Jane Farmer

Jane is a member of diyLaw and campaigner against personal guarantees. She is also a developer/promoter of Project Heritage PG Resolution – an online system of redress for people evicted from their homes due to the abuse of personal guarantees and an advocate of Intellectual Capital as security for business lending.

Jane is working towards sustainable financial support for business which does not rely on security placed on people’s homes. She believes PGs are a barbaric, unregulated practice, often covert and in practice, they make it more attractive for lenders to force the sale of a third party’s home rather than recover funds from a business borrower – or indeed lend responsibly. Jane believes the only way banks will regain the confidence of the SME sector is when lenders fund SMEs more intelligently and honestly.

George Mellman, CFA, CIPM, FRM

George Mellman is a veteran finance consultant with decades of senior-level, client-facing work for institutional money managers, fiduciary oversight committees, C-suite executives, and third-party advisory firms. He is a skilled analyst in all major asset classes, with special expertise in “best practices” for DB and DC retirement plans.

For over fifteen years, George was a Vice President and Senior Consultant at Fidelity’s Investment, where he was responsible for maintaining ongoing investments relationships with many of its largest corporate and non-profit clients. Previously, he had been Director of Consultant Relations at a Connecticut-based asset management firm and a pension consultant for multi-employer and public-sector clients.

For his institutional clients, George has evaluated investment portfolios, made buy-sell and asset allocation recommendations, and assisted with their other fiduciary oversight decisions. For these clients, this has led to improved portfolio risk-return metrics, measurable cost savings, and greater overall alignment with stated investment goals.

Additionally, for many years George was an MBA and undergraduate level Finance Instructor at both Northeastern University in Boston and Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. He also has been engaged in litigation analysis support activities and various start-up organizations. Published research includes “401(k) Lawsuits: What Are the Causes and Consequences?” (https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IB_18-8.pdf)

George has been an active volunteer with the CFA Institute, where he has served on Technology, Education, and Committees Governance committees. Earned professional designations include: Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”), Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (“CIPM”), Financial Risk Manager (”FRM”), and Certified Financial Planner (“CFP”). He holds an undergraduate degree from Boston University and an MBA from Carnegie-Mellon University.

Alain Desmier

Alain Desmier is an internet entrepreneur with a specific interest in data privacy and web based marketing technology. He draws on 15 years of online advertising, compliance and financial services experience, in which time he has founded and worked for businesses in the UK, Germany and the US.

Alain is a spokesman and advocate for fairer marketing practices within financial lead generation and regularly appears in the press. He was recognised by The Protection Review as ‘insurance personality of year’ in 2020 and his business Contact State has received a number of awards and accolades.

Nigel Dewar-Gibb

Nigel is an experienced commercial lawyer and advises on intellectual property. His work covers both contentious and non-contentious matters. He focuses on digital media/technology sectors and advises companies on the acquisition, production and securitisation of copyright assets including ‘fingerprint’ tech companies which track and report royalty income.

Because of the increasing complexity of copyright, Nigel set up a team to investigate copyright asset royalty income flows worldwide to promote transparent and accurate accounting. The team can identify issues which impact these assets and the accurate reporting of royalty income. He also works closely with the Corporate and Finance teams to service investor clients seeking to acquire copyright assets.

Nigel was previously a senior in-house Counsel for a number of multinational companies such as London Records (PolyGram), Virgin Records and Picture Music International, a division of EMI Records.

Nigel set up his own law firm in 1998 and his associate offices are located in New York.

Faizan Farid, CPA

Faizan has a professional career spanning over 12 years. He has worked on major projects such as with ANZ, leading transformation project (though Human centred design approach) from Credit side. He joined Westpac Group in 2018 and was selected to complete the Emerging Leadership Program which was completed in 2019. Faizan manages his work-life balance through involving himself in activities such as scuba diving, weight- lifting and running. Learning new skills at all stages of his life helps Faizan stay motivated.

Faizan’s aspirations are clear – to help people and communities in whatever he does. This gives him the drive to improve every day and have a meaningful impact on society. He believes there will always be different challenges during the journey and having the right mindset makes all the difference.