Vicki Bakhshi is a Director in the Responsible Investment team. She joined the firm in November 2006, prior to which she spent five years in the UK government, including as the Prime Minister’s policy adviser on climate change, and as a senior member of the team responsible for the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. She also spent three years as a leader writer at the Financial Times, and two years as an economist at the Bank of England. Vicki chairs the UKSIF Leadership Committee, has served on the Board of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, and was also named by Financial News in 2013 as one of the top 100 influential women in finance in Europe. Vicki holds an MSc in Economics from Warwick University and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.

Claudia is a Director and Co-Head of the Governance and Sustainable Investment team. She joined the firm in 2007 and leads the GSI team’s ESG research for BMO Global Asset Management’s screened funds, including our Responsible fund range that includes both equity and fixed income investments. In addition, Claudia plays a leading role in managing key reo^® client relationships. Claudia previously spent five years at a start-up charity called New Philanthropy Capital where she focused on analysing the impact of charitable giving and advising high net-worths and corporates on their charitable giving strategies. Claudia graduated in 2001 from Durham University with a BA in Economics.

Alice is Managing Director and Co-Head of the Responsible Investment Team. She returned to BMO Global Asset Management in 2018 having previously worked here as a fund manager from 2010 to 2016, most recently as Co-Lead Manager of the Responsible Global Equity Fund. Prior to BMO, Alice gained ten years of investment experience initially at JP Morgan Asset Management then at Henderson Global Investors, as a fund manager on the Sustainable & Responsible Investment funds, and as a healthcare sector specialist. Alice has a successful track record as a portfolio manager in responsible investment and brings the Responsible Investment team first-hand experience of integrating ESG issues into investment research and decision making. Outside BMO, Alice holds a pro bono role as a panel member for the funding programme of the National Institute of Health Research. Alice holds an MSci in Physics from the University of Bristol and is a CFA Charterholder.

Fredrik Axsater is Chief Executive officer of LGM and Chief Commercial Officer of ESG for BMO Global Asset Management. Fredrik is responsible for setting the strategic direction and achieving the commercial success of LGM. In addition, he is responsible for setting BMO GAM’s commercial ESG strategy and ensuring that BMO effectively delivers for clients on both their investment and ESG objectives.

Fredrik was previously the Head of Institutional Client Business at Wells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM), where he was responsible for long-term North American institutional distribution, as well as growing key global WFAM businesses, including Retirement and ESG. Prior to WFAM, Fredrik spent six years at State Street, most recently as Global Head of Defined Contribution and ESG, and 15 years at BlackRock. Earlier in his career he spent over ten years in multiple portfolio management roles, across both global macro and defined contribution strategies.

Fredrik, a native Swede, has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of San Diego, a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Illinois, and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation.