Building a Sustainable World – The Role Business Families Can Play

Keynote Speakers

Professor Arnoud De Meyer
Professor Emeritus, Singapore Management University
Chairman, Stewardship Asia Centre

Professor Arnoud De Meyer is a global academic leader with more than 35 years of experience in top international institutions in Europe and Asia. Until December 2018, he served as President of Singapore Management University (SMU). He is also an internationally recognised empirical researcher with a deep understanding of R&D and Innovation Management, Manufacturing Strategy and International Management.
 
Before joining SMU, Professor De Meyer was from 2006 until 2010 Director (Dean) of the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). From 1983 until 2006, he was a faculty member at INSEAD and had assumed several senior management positions. From 1998 until 2002, he was the founding Dean of INSEAD’s campus in Asia (Singapore) and became then Deputy Dean for the whole of INSEAD.

Professor De Meyer has been an Independent Director of several companies in Belgium France, Singapore and Australia. Currently he is Chairman of Stewardship Asia Centre and Independent Director of Viva Energy Pty Ltd (Australia). Professor De Meyer graduated as an Electrical Engineer from the University of Gent (Belgium), where he also obtained his Master and Doctorate in Management.

Mr Saker Nusseibeh, CBE
Chief Executive Officer, International
Federated Hermes 

Saker Nusseibeh is CEO of the International Business of Federated Hermes, appointed November 2011, having joined in June 2009 as CIO. Prior to this, Saker was Global Head of Equities at Fortis Investments, having previously been CIO Global Equities since 2005. Before this, he was CIO of Global Equities and Head of Marketing for SGAM UK. This followed SGAM’s acquisition of Trust Company of the West, where Saker was a Managing Director running global and international strategies, as well the London office. He started his career at Mercury Asset Management in 1987.

Saker is founder of the 300 Club and was an inaugural member of the CFA Institute’s Future of Finance Advisory Council from 2013 until 2019. He is also a member of the IIRC Council, the FCA-PRA Climate Financial Risk Forum, and several other committee and advisory boards.   

In 2018, Saker was named CEO of the Year at the Financial News Asset Management Europe Awards and as European Personality of the Year for 2020 at the Funds Europe Awards. Saker was awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s 2020 New Year's Honours list for services to Responsible Business and Finance.  

Speakers & Panellists

Mr John Cheng
Director
Innovate 360

John Cheng is the 3rd generation business owner of Cheng Yew Heng, a 74-year-old family business. He joined in 2008 and is pivotal to the company’s business transformation. In 2018, he founded Innovate 360, Singapore’s first food incubator with facilities and is looking to launch a venture food fund in 2021. It is an accredited mentor partner supported by the Singapore government and recognised by Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as a food technology partner in food security. In 2020, he launched foodculture.sg, an e-commerce platform that helps companies go digital, engage consumers and go global.

John is a key driver in the Singapore food innovation ecosystem. He is co-founder and chairman of Feed 9 Billion, an open innovation ecosystem platform aims at promoting sustainability and innovation through collaboration to feed 9 billion people by 2050. Under his leadership, it launched the Good Food Startup Manual: Singapore edition to help food entrepreneurs in their startup journey. He is a member of the Ministry of Trade’s Pro-enterprise Panel (PEP) that helps companies overcome regulatory hurdles and the Singapore Food Story (SFS) Thematic Scientific Evaluation Panel.

Ms Louise Dudley, CFA
Portfolio Manager
Federated Hermes

Louise Dudley joined the international business of Federated Hermes in March 2009 and leads the ESG and responsible investment research strategy within the Global Equities team. Building on her experience developing factor testing platforms and enhancing the factor modelling capabilities of the team’s systems, Louise has applied this comprehensive analysis to ESG applications. Having delivered research supporting the returns from ESG integration, this has led to the creation of innovative customised product solutions and tools fulfilling client needs.

Louise originally joined the company as a member of the stewardship advisory business, EOS. Prior to this, she worked for Coca Cola in a financial accounting role having graduated with a Master of Engineering from the University of Durham. Louise holds the IMC and is a CFA charterholder.  She is a board member of the UK Sustainable Investment & Finance Association and in 2017 was named one of Financial News' Rising Stars of Asset Management.

Assistant Professor Kenneth Goh
Interim Academic Director, Business Families Institute
V3 Group Fellow in Family Entrepreneurship
Assistant Professor of Strategic Management,
Lee Kong Chian School of Business
Singapore Management University

Assistant Professor Kenneth Goh obtained his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University under the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship and also holds degrees from Wharton and Harvard. As an expert on innovation, his research has been published in the top academic journals in Management. In addition to presenting his research at top-tier academic conferences globally, Professor Goh also presents at industry events, most recently as a keynote speaker at an exclusive roundtable for senior bank executives organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Professor Goh was previously a faculty member at the Ivey Business School in Canada (#1 ranked by Bloomberg). He was subsequently recruited by SMU to oversee the development of curricula in innovation and entrepreneurship. At SMU and Ivey, Professor Goh has won teaching awards for courses in sustainability, entrepreneurship, and leadership in consecutive years. He has also authored best-selling case studies on family business, innovation, entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship used by business schools globally.

Prior to academia, Professor Goh was an investment banker and entrepreneur. As a 3rd generation member of a family enterprise, he channels his passion for fueling the entrepreneurialism, legacy and impact of business families through his position as the Interim Academic Director of the Business Families Institute.

Professor Annie Koh
Professor Emeritus of Finance (Practice)
Senior Academic Advisor, Business Families Institute
Singapore Management University

Professor Annie Koh is Professor Emeritus of Finance (Practice) at Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University. She is a renowned conference speaker, panel moderator and commentator. Professor Koh is currently a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on New Agenda for Work, Wages and Job Creation.

Professor Koh also chairs the Asian Bond Fund 2 supervisory committee of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and is a Board Member of AMTD International Inc, PBA Group, Prime US REIT, Prudential Assurance Company Singapore and Yoma Strategic Holdings. In addition, she serves on the Customs Advisory Council and advises family enterprises such as Hendricks Corp. Pte Ltd, TOP International, and startups such as AvePoint EduTech, Dedoco, StashSway and SWAT Mobility.

Professor Koh received her Ph.D. in International Finance from Stern School of Business, New York University in 1988, under the Fulbright scholarship. For her outstanding contributions to education and the public sector, she was awarded the Singapore Public Administration Bronze and Silver medals in 2010 and 2016 respectively, and the Adult Education Prism Award in 2017.

Mr Jansen Phee
Head of Fund Investment Solutions APAC &
Global Investment Management China 
UBS

Jansen Phee is Head of Funds Investment Solutions for Asia Pacific at UBS Global Wealth Management. He is based in Singapore and responsible for UBS GWM’s fund offerings and fund agenda in the region. He chairs UBS’s Asia Pacific funds committee and is also a member of its global funds committee. Jansen is concurrently the Head of Global Investment Management China. In this role, he is responsible for UBS GWM’s funds, alternatives, and wealth planning (life insurance and family trust) businesses in onshore China. Jansen had previously headed UBS’s discretionary fixed income and equity teams and was Head of the Singapore and Malaysia Investment Specialist team where he helped advise and structure investment solutions for clients. He has over 18 years of experience in investment advisory, discretionary management and research roles.

Prior to re-joining UBS, he was with BNP Paribas WM as Head of equities within the discretionary portfolio management team. Before that he was a senior investment counsellor. Jansen also spent time at Mercer Consulting as an investment consultant and at Citigroup Private Bank as an investment portfolio counsellor. Jansen graduated from the London School of Economics with Honours in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics.

Mr Mitch Reznick, CFA
Head of Research and Sustainable Fixed Income 
Federated Hermes

Mitch Reznick joined the international business of Federated Hermes in February 2010 as Head of Research on the Credit team before becoming Co-Head of Credit from 2012 to 2019. In 2019, he also became Head of Sustainable Fixed Income and co-manager of the Federated Hermes SDG Engagement High Yield Credit Fund. 

Prior to this he was Co-Head of Credit Research for the global credit team at Fortis Investments. Other roles at Fortis include portfolio manager of European high yield funds, based in London, and senior credit analyst, based in Paris. Before this he worked as an associate analyst in the leveraged finance group at Moody’s Investors Service in New York. Among his current and former advocacy roles are: Founding member of the Executive Committee for the European Leveraged Finance Association (ELFA), Co-Chair of the Credit Risk and Ratings Advisory Committee at the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI); and more.

Mitch earned his Master of International Affairs at Columbia University in New York City and his Bachelor of History at Pitzer College, one of the Claremont Colleges in California. He is a CFA charterholder and Co-Chair of the Federated Hermes Sustainability Investment Centre.

Mr Ankesh Shahra 
Founder and CEO
Agrimax Ventures

Ankesh Shahra is the Founder and Managing Director of Agrimax Ventures. His passion lies in learning and adapting innovative technologies and bringing them to life at a grassroots level. After studying in the United States, Ankesh moved to Singapore in 2008 to complete his education and simultaneously set up the regional headquarters for his family's commodity business in Singapore.

With the uncertainty in global climate affecting farm production, Ankesh founded a Seed Company in 2013 to research and breed climate resilient seed varieties for small farmers. The company has over 40 crops under production. In 2016, he also founded Agrimax Ventures, headquartered in Singapore. This company focuses on smart technologies within the Agritech and Foodtech space and is designed to provide a more composite solution offering to farmers, alongside the seed varieties.

In conjunction with its long-term goals, Agrimax develops, owns, operates and/or invests in businesses that use technology to target specific imbalances in food and agriculture, whilst maintaining the overarching criteria of sustainable production, consumption, and waste reduction. Since inception, Agrimax has developed interests in farm inputs, biologicals, plant proteins and farm digitisation tools.

Ankesh is also the CEO and co-owner of VertiVegies, a Singapore based precision indoor farming company. He formed a joint venture with Chinese indoor farming leader SananBio in July 2018, to develop indoor farms for Singapore and other cities globally. Together, VertiVegies aims to contribute to the Singapore Government's vision of "30 by 30", or to meet 30 percent of Singapore's nutritional needs by year 2030.

Mrs Reshma Lalvani Sujan
Managing Director & Co-founder
Raaga Holdings

Reshma Lalvani Sujan is the Managing Director and Co-founder of Raaga Holding. She has over 20 years of experience in both private and listed companies in India and Singapore. During the 11 years as an Ador Board member, she was Director of Ador Welding Ltd (AWL), India’s leading welding consumables and equipment company. She was also Whole Time Director of J B Advani & Co (JBA), a 100-year-old privately held company which plans and manages group investments and strategy. Additionally, she was the Managing Director of Ador Multiproducts Ltd (AMPL), a strategic manufacturer for leading B2C personal care brands. During this time at Ador, she played a vital role in incorporating and implementing transitional strategic decisions including corporate governance, professionalisation and growth plans.

Currently, she is a board member on several offshore funds of the Edelweiss group. Reshma also has 4 years of education experience with United World College of South East Asia. Reshma completed her Master of Business Administration (International Marketing) from London UK. She was a member of Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO) – Singapore, and is a member of Singapore Institute of Directors (SID).

Mr Ronil Sujan
Managing Director & Co-founder
Raaga Holdings

Ronil Sujan has over 20 years of experience across India and Asia. He has been on several Boards in a strategic capacity and has been involved in multi-asset/multi-family office strategies. He began his career with United Technologies in Internal Audit in 1990 in Farmington, CT and subsequently a senior professional career in banking and investing.

In the last seven of his fourteen years with the Rabobank Group, Ronil was the Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking Asia-Pacific at Rabobank International. He was on the Board and Global Exco of the global JV with NM Rothschilds and a member on the senior management team of the Bank in Asia. Prior to this, Ronil was a Founder and Director of Rabobank in India (Rabo India Finance).

Ronil has been on the Board of Rotary, and a Committee Member of SID and IMAS. He also serves as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at INSEAD Business School. Ronil completed his FMP from Stanford University, MBA from Texas A&M University and BA from Muhlenberg College, where he was a Dana Foundation Scholar. In addition, he completed the Leadership Program at Harvard University, the Social Entrepreneurship Program at INSEAD, and Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Finance from NUS.

Associate Professor Tan Hwee Hoon
Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour & Human Resources, 
Lee Kong Chian School of Business
Chair, Steering Committee, Business Families Institute 
Singapore Management University

Professor Tan Hwee Hoon is a tenured professor with the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University (SMU). She is currently the Chair of the SMU Faculty Senate and Chair of the Steering Committee for the Business Families Institute.  

Professor Tan has published in many international journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, and Journal of Applied Psychology. She currently sits on the review board of Journal of Management.  

In addition to an active research agenda focusing on interpersonal trust within organisations, Professor Tan is also actively involved in Executive Teaching, in both English and Chinese. She has also trained for major profit and non-profit organisations including Abbott Laboratories, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Ministry of Foreign Affairs-Singapore and ASEAN, Sumitomo Chemicals, International SOS, among others. She also consults for organisations such as Roche and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and delivers keynotes at conferences such as the UFI.

Professor Tan was on the Practices Committee of the Institute of Human Resource Professionals (IHRP) from 2017-2020, and is on the Singapore Medical Council’s Complaints Committee as a layperson.

Mr Darren Teo
Managing Partner
Apricot Capital

Darren Teo started his career in Super Group in 2006. He was in charge of strategic business planning and overseas business expansion initiatives. In 2008, he spearheaded a restructuring exercise for Super Group which led to the Group consolidating its non-core activities through strategic sales and repurposing these activities to be in line with the Group’s direction.

In 2014, Darren was appointed Group Assistant General Manager for Strategy & Business Development, overseeing the Group ‘s strategy and commercial activities covering more than 50 countries. Darren was last appointed Executive Director of SGX Ltd Super Group Ltd, serving on its board of Directors. In 2017, he led the strategic sale of Super Group to the world’s second largest coffee company, Jacobs Dowe Egberts for S$1.45b.

Darren is currently the Managing Partner of Apricot Capital – His family’s private investment company with business interest in real estate, offshore marine, consumer lifestyle brands and education. His role includes evaluating investment proposals, executing investment opportunities, implementing strategic asset allocation and managing its investment portfolio. He also sits on the board of several companies including Fundamental Foods, Marco Polo Marine, etc.

Ms Elaine Teo
Managing Partner
Apricot Capital

Elaine Teo is currently the Managing Partner in Apricot Capital, responsible for financial planning, strategic fund deployment and management of the Company’s investment portfolios. Prior to this, she was with the Super Group Ltd which she joined in 1999, and had helmed the Group’s branding, marketing and product development.

Elaine’s extensive experience in these fields has given her the edge and expertise to heighten the Super Group’s market expansion in the region. She spearheaded the rebranding exercise for the company and played a pivotal role in building and establishing a stronger and more appealing brand. This initiative injected the Super Group’s brand with the right marketing strategies that resonate and appeal to today’s consumers. Beyond strengthening the group’s brand presence in key markets, it also provided the platform to launch and penetrate new markets for growth opportunities.

Ms Cynthia Handriani Wijaya
Head, Business Development and Investor Relations 
Daya Selaras Group 

Cynthia Handriani Wijaya graduated as a Valedictorian for her Bachelor degree of Professional Accounting from the Macquarie University, Sydney, at the age of 19 years old. Since then, she joined her family business which has been in the paper and corrugated carton industry for more than 40 years. She started off in internal audit, before progressing to work in accounting and finance for the group’s manufacturing companies.

Today, she is the Head of Business Development and Investor Relations in Daya Selaras Group (DSG), their manufacturing holding company. DSG is a sustainable industrial hub that links the industrial flow from waste paper material all the way to corrugated carton packaging through our network of affiliates and/or partners in the waste paper, industrial paper, corrugated carton boxes and logistic sectors, hence forming a circular value chain. Cynthia also manages the family office overseas investments and their co-working investment in Indonesia.

About the Knowledge Partner
 

     ​

Federated Hermes (FH) is guided by the conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create long-term wealth. FH provides specialised capabilities across equity, fixed income and private markets, in addition to multi-asset strategies and liquidity-management solutions. Through pioneering stewardship services, FH engages companies on strategic and sustainability concerns to promote investors’ long-term performance and fiduciary interests. FH's goals are to help individuals invest and retire better, help clients achieve better risk-adjusted returns, and to contribute to positive outcomes in the wider world. All activities previously carried out by Hermes Investment Management now form the international business of Federated Hermes.

 About BFI@SMU

Business Families Institute @ SMU
Singapore Management University
Administration Building Level 5
81 Victoria Street
Singapore 188065
Tel: +65 6808 5308
bfi@smu.edu.sg
https://bfi.smu.edu.sg

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