Speakers

Theodor Alexandrescu, General Manager, Alico Asigurari Romania S.A.
Theodor Alexandrescu became General Manager of Alico Asigurari Romania in June 2005 (then called AIG Asigurari Romania). His main responsibilities include managing over 140 employees and the entire distribution network, preparing and implementing company strategy. In 2007 he founded the pensions company Alico Pensions (Alico Societe de Adminstrare a unui Fond de Pensii Admistrat Privat S.A.) whose majority shareholder is Alico Asigurari Romania. Prior to his current position, Alexandrescu was Deputy General Manager and in this role he managed the company’s marketing and distribution strategy.

Barbara Fasolo Ph.D., Lecturer in Decision Sciences, London School of Economics
Dr. Barbara Fasolo is a lecturer in Decision Sciences at the London School of Economics. Economist and psychologist by training (BSc Economics Universita’ Bocconi Italy; MSc Decision Sciences, London School of Economics, PhD Psychology University of Colorado, USA), her area of expertise is “behavioural decision making,” the empirical study of how people form preferences, make judgments and choices, on their own as well as with decision support. In past research she has explored choice behaviour with conflicting and too much information as well as ways to present information online for improving consumer and patient choice.

Martin Fox, Director, Stradbrooke Consultancy
Fox has a background of senior marketing positions in financial services followed by vast marketing consultancy experience across many business sectors. He can help you identify the challenges you face and bring all his marketing experience to bear when meeting those challenges.

Ewa Dąbrowska, Director, AXA Bancassurance and Partnership Programs Division, AXA Life Insurance Company
Since 1995, Ewa Dąbrowska has worked for many large insurance companies in Poland including: Warta S.A., Warta Vita S.A., Zurich Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń na Życie S.A. i Amplico AIG Life S.A. She spent the past 8 years of her career in Amplico AIG as the Financial Institutions Division Director and she was responsible for cooperation with Banks and Financial Institutions, for bancassurance programs and product development. In April of 2008 she joined AXA Life Insurance Company as a Member of the Board, responsible for product offer management and development. Currently, she holds the position as Director of AXA’s Bancassurance and Partnership Programs Division.

Robert Lang, Head of Insurance UK, HSBC
Robert Lang joined HSBC Life (UK) Limited as a Chief Executive Officer in August 2006, having previously spent 7 years with ING Group. Prior to this, Mr. Lang held several sales management and business development roles in both Europe and Australia, following his initial career as an officer in the Australian Army. In 2009, Mr. Lang assumed responsibility for HSBC’s European insurance operations before undertaking his current role as Head of Insurance UK and as a member of HSBC’s UK Bank Management Committee. Mr. Lang holds an MBA from London Business School in addition to his graduate degree in Economics and Arts. He is also a current member of LIMRA’s International Advisory Committee.

Christophe Langlois, Founder & CEO, Visible-Banking.com
Christophe Langlois is an active blogger, an experienced presenter, advocate for Web 2.0, and is a regularly requested chairperson and speaker at conferences. Back in 2007 he launched Visible-Banking.com which quickly became the leading independent blog 100% focused on social media in banking, financial services, and insurance. Now VB is tracking over 2,000 initiatives (twitter, facebook, youtube, blogs) in 60 countries. In 2008, Christophe left his senior innovation role at Lloyds TSB to set up Visible Media Ltd and focus on helping financial institutions worldwide to better understand and leverage social media.

César M. Melgoza, Founder & CEO, Geoscape USA and Europe
César Melgoza is a leading innovator and thought-leader in business strategy, cultural insights and the development of marketing systems and analytics. Having worked at two Silicon Valley firms — Apple and Strategic Mapping — Melgoza founded Geoscape to deepen insights and analytics in an increasingly diverse American and international marketplace. He also is co-owner of Geoscape/Latin Force Group LLC. Chairman of Geoscape Europe BV based in Amsterdam, an investing board member of EcoNET Ventures/Latinum Networks, a board member of Florida State University’s Center for Hispanic Market Communication and a member of the presitigious New America Alliance.

Gordon Morris, Managing Director, Age Concern Enterprises Ltd
Gordon joined Age Concern Enterprises in 1999 from PPP Healthcare where he was a Director. He initially held the role of Sales Director, but soon took responsibility for marketing and product development as well. Gordon has been Managing Director since 2006. Well known throughout Age Concern, the federation in England, and amongst colleagues in Age Concerns in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, he has made a significant personal contribution to the development of the Trading Alliance and to Age Concern Enterprises, achieving FSA accreditation, as well as developing strong professional relationships with suppliers. Gordon lives in Devon and, having played for the Saracens, continues with a passion to follow English Rugby Union.

Jan Stjernström, CEO, SEB Trygg Live Sverige, Stockholm, Sweden
Jan Stjernström heads Sweden’s leading unit-linked insurance company with around 600 employees. He is also a member of the management team for SEB’s Global Life Division. Prior to his current role, he was the merchant banking and country head of Finland, SEB, Helsinki, Finland. He also held the role of European Industry Head for Chemicals, Paper & Packaging and Metals & Mining client franchises of the corporate banking division of Citigroup, London.

Paul Yates, Strategy & Business Development Director, 1st The Exchange
Paul Yates has over 20 years of experience designing and delivering innovative technology solutions for the distribution of financial services. His proven strategy and business development experience has seen him help build and manage a range of technology and financial services businesses. Paul joined The Exchange in 2004 from Misys PLC where he held the position of Sales Technology Director of Sesame. Prior to joining Misys, he was Associate Director at CMG. Paul was recruited to develop and execute The Exchange’s business strategy, leading to the acquisition of 1^st in 2006.

Victoria Wentworth, Retail Programmes Director, AVIVA
Victoria Wentworth is responsible for all the retail projects across Europe; more than 30 market specific and pan-European projects in total. Prior to joining the insurance industry, Ms. Wentworth spent 9 years in the British Army as an army officer. She graduated from the Royal Military Academy in 1997 and joined the Royal Logistic Corps. This background in distribution has latterly enabled a logical transition to the retail distribution arena. Whilst in the army, she served in the UK and Germany, and completed operational tours in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq. She finished her time in the army as a squadron commander, commanding 300 soldiers in peacetime Germany and then operations in Iraq.