The Event

Martina Verić is a Member of the Board of Hanfa, which she joined in July 2025 after leading the Funds and Investment Firms Supervision Division. She began her career in 2008 at asset management company PBZ Invest, and later held senior risk management roles at asset management company InterCapital Asset Management and investment firm Interkapital vrijednosni papiri. Since joining Hanfa in 2021, she has overseen a range of supervisory and regulatory areas, including investment and pension funds and crypto markets. Martina holds a degree in Financial and Business Mathematics and a Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF).

Nuri Tezel graduated from the Department of Finance, Marmara University and continued his post-graduate education with MBA at Leeds University. Tezel started his professional career in Arthur Andersen Istanbul Audit Department in 1996, and continued his career as Senior Manager at Ernst & Young and Internal Audit Manager at Sabancı Holding.

Nuri Tezel continued his career as Finance Director at Enka Pazarlama between 2005- 2008, and worked as CFO at Sabiha Gökçen Airport, Soyak Holding, Assan Aluminum and Aksa Energy companies between 2008-2021. Nuri Tezel is a member of İstanbul Chamber of Certified Public Accountants (ISMMMO), a founding member of the Corporate Risk Management Association (KRYD) and was a Member of the Business Council of DEİK Bahrain between 2017-2018. He is currently a board member of the Corporate Governance Association of Türkiye (TKYD). 

In 2016, 2018 and 2020 when he served as CFO, he was recognized as one of the “50 Most Effective CFOs” by Fortune Türkiye and has participated in many international seminars in the field of finance as a speaker. Nuri Tezel has been serving as one of the Board Members for Smart Güneş Teknolojileri (Listed company at Borsa İstanbul) since January 2022. 

He has also been serving one of the Board Members at Yünsa Yünlü Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. (Listed Company at Borsa İstanbul) since May 2024. He has knowledge of English and German.

Angela is the Vice President, Regulatory Operations for the Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick (Canada) and, in that role, is responsible for the direction and oversight of all regulatory functions of the Commission. This includes direct oversight and responsibility for the Commission’s Pensions Division, Financial Institutions and Unclaimed Property Division, Consumer Affairs Division, Insurance Division, and Securities Division. Angela serves as the statutory regulator in many of these areas, including as the Superintendent of Pensions and Superintendent of Insurance.

Following a short time in private practice at a national law firm, Angela became the Assistant Superintendent of Pensions for the Government of New Brunswick in 2002. She has held progressively more senior roles since that time, and has been involved for more than 20 years in both policy development and the regulation of financial and consumer services. She is the Vice President of the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS), the Chair of the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) and the Vice Chair of the General Insurance Statistical Agency (GISA). She is an active member of the Canadian Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators, and in addition served as a Steering Committee Member of the International Pension & Employee Benefits Lawyers Association (IPEBLA) from 2019 – 2024.

Angela received her Bachelor of Commerce degree (Honours – Economics) from Mount Allison University and her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta. She was called to the New Brunswick Bar in 2001 and has been registered as a practicing lawyer continuously since that time.

Pablo Antolin is Head of Insurance and Pensions at the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs. He manages the research and policy programme of the Working Party on Insurance and Pensions at the OCDE (Pensions and insurance | OECD). This body brings together policymakers, regulators and the private sector of almost 40 countries around the world.

 
His work covers issues related to the operation, regulation and design of asset-backed pension systems, the well-functioning of insurance markets, focusing on catastrophic risk, and the role of pensions and insurance companies in capital markets. He manages the OECD Core Principles of private pension regulation and the OCDE Recommendation for the Good Design of Defined Contribution Pension Plans.

Mr. Antolín has a PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Alicante (Spain).

Viktorija Kadzevič has worked at the Bank of Lithuania in financial supervision for seven years. Over the last three, she focused on supervising pension funds and pension accumulation companies operating in Lithuania.

Having joined Phoenix Group at the end of February 2024, Mike is Retirement and Savings Director across the Phoenix Group business. He is responsible for Thinking Forward which provides insights, debate and the broader platform for thought and direction across Standard Life. As a Consumer Spokesperson connecting topical and future savings and pension issues for both the consumer and press is a top priority with learnings from a global perspective being applied.

Mike previously worked with Hymans Robertson as a Partner and Head of firm-wide proposition for 17 years, most recently overseeing the DC Master Trust consolidation for a number of high-profile corporate clients. He also advised on both M&A as well as creating one of the leading UK independent benchmarking tools on the provider market.

Dr Grace Muradzikwa is an accomplished insurance executive and regulator with over four decades of experience in the industry. A trailblazer in Zimbabwe’s financial sector, she was part of the founding team of the Zimbabwe Reinsurance Corporation in 1984 and became the first Black woman to lead and list a company on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange as CEO of NicozDiamond insurance company.

Since June 2019, she has served as the Commissioner of Insurance, Pension, and Provident Funds, where she oversees the regulation and supervision of Zimbabwe’s insurance and pensions industry.

She has earned multiple recognitions, including the CEO Global Regional Titans Award (2017) and being named among Africa’s Top 50 Women in Insurance (2022).

Regionally and internationally, she serves as Executive Committee Member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), Vice Chairperson of the Committee of Insurance, Securities and Non-Banking Financial Authorities (CISNA)’s Governance Council in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and a Board Member of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA).

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Administration, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, and an Honorary Doctorate in Leadership.

Iwan Pasila is a distinguished professional serving as the Deputy Commissioner for Supervision of Insurance, Guarantee Institution, and Pension Fund at the Indonesia Financial Services Authority (OJK).
With a wealth of experience in the financial sector, Iwan has held key positions throughout his career, including Analyst at Insurance Directorate, Ministry of Finance, Chief Actuary at AIG Life, CFO at AXA Mandiri, Deputy Group CFO at Sun Life Indonesia, CEO at Mandiri Inhealth, and CEO at BRI Life.

He earned a Master Degree in Actuarial Science from City University, London, UK, and completed his undergraduate studies in Mathematics at Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia.

Iwan holds several professional designations, including being a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries of Indonesia, Qualified Expert in Health Insurance, and is certified in Enterprise Risk Governance. His outstanding contributions have been recognized through numerous awards, including Industry Marketing Champion in 2016 and 2022, CEO of the Year in 2021, and being named in the Top 100 CEOs in 2022. Iwan Pasila stands as a visionary leader with a remarkable track record in the insurance and financial industry.

Björn Z. Ásgrímsson is a Senior Risk and Pension Policy Analyst at Central Bank of Iceland’s financial stability division. Prior to the merger of the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) and the Central Bank, Ásgrímsson’s assignments at the Authority from 2008 – 2020 were investment compliance and actuarial evaluation.

Since then, Ásgrímsson work has focused on pension market oversight and financial stability issues related to the pension market. He was a pension fund board member for five years and held various management positions in the private sector before joining the FSA in 2008. A frequent speaker at Icelandic and international conferences and seminars.

Ásgrímsson has written articles on pensions and participated in several research projects. He has been an active delegate at the OECD´s working party on private pensions and with the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS). Ásgrímsson holds an MSc. in Industrial Engineering from the Technical University in Linköping, Sweden.

Thomas Post is Associate Professor of Finance at Maastricht University and affiliated with Netspar. He received his PhD from Humboldt University Berlin. He held visiting positions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of New South Wales, and worked for KPMG. In his research and teaching he looks at (1) understanding the psychological motivations that drive households’ financial decisions and (2) developing nudges and interventions to change financial behaviors for the better. Furthermore, he is the director of the Marketing-Finance Exchange Center of Excellence in Maastricht.

Fiona Stewart is part of the World Bank’s Social Protection team. As Global Lead for Aging and Pensions providing policy advice to governments around the world. Fiona has been with the Bank since 2012, previously with the Finance and Markets teams as the Global Lead for Insurance & Pensions. She also helped to coordinate the Bank’s work on sustainable finance, including representing the institution at the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group, Co-Chairing the Finance Taskforce under the UN Decade on Restoration and acting as Secretary to the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Change. From 2004, Fiona worked for the OECD’s Financial Affairs Division and led the Secretariat of the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS). 

Prior to the OECD, Fiona worked in the pension fund industry, including as Head of American Express Asset Management in Japan. She served on the advisory board of one the OECD’s pension funds and represents the World Bank staff on the organization’s Pension Fund Committee. She holds degrees from Oxford and Johns Hopkins Universities and a Chartered Financial Analyst qualification.

Namakau Mundia Ntini is the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer at the Pensions and Insurance Authority, Zambia. With a steadfast commitment to financial inclusion and stability, Namakau is currently playing a key role in the country’s pension reforms aimed at making the pensions system inclusive and sustainable.

She served as Chairperson of the Financial Education Working Group during the Financial Sector Development Plan (FSDP) reforms, leading to the development of Zambia’s First National Strategy for Financial Education in 2014.

 
Additionally, Namakau represents the Zambian Government on the ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company) Board of Directors, and is also Chairperson of the Insurance, Retirement Funds, Medical Aid Schemes and Intermediary, a subcommittee under the SADC Committee of Insurance, Securities and Non-Banking Authorities (CISNA).

I graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Comenius University in Bratislava and began my career as an actuary at the Ministry of Finance. From 1999, I headed the Department of Insurance Supervision, and in 2000 I joined the Financial Market Authority as Director of the Insurance Department. Following the adoption of the new Act on Supervision of the Financial Market in 2002, I was appointed by the Government of the Slovak Republic as General Director of the Authority.

After the Authority merged with the National Bank of Slovakia in 2006, I served as Executive Director for Supervision and Oversight of Insurance and Capital Markets. In 2010, I became Director of the Regulatory and Macro-Prudential Risk Assessment Department, and between 2017–2019 I was Executive Director of the Regulation and Consumer Protection Unit.

Since 2020, I have been Executive Director responsible for Consumer Protection, Financial Innovations, and Insurance and Pension Regulation and Supervision. In this role, I also oversee the National Bank’s financial education project “5 Peňazí” (5 coins).

I represent the National Bank of Slovakia at EIOPA (as a member of the BoS), and at the OECD in both the Insurance and Private Pension Committee and the Financial Market Committee. Since 2021, I have chaired the OECD Working Party on Private Pensions (WPPP) Bureau, and since 2022, I have also represented the Slovak Republic in the OECD International Network on Financial Education (INFE).

Internationally, I am an active member of working committees of the IAIS and the IOPS and currently serve as Chair of the IAIS Retirement Income and Pension Forum (RIPF).

Chris is the Director of the Pensions Policy Institute, the UK’s leading independent pensions research organisation. He joined as Research Director in 2002, and was appointed Director in 2013.

Chris was appointed one of the three co-chairs for the 2017 DWP Automatic Enrolment Review, and he was also a member of the Joint Expert Panel (JEP) that examined the valuation of the Universities Superannuation Scheme in 2018 and 2019.

In June 2019 Chris was appointed Principal of the Pensions Dashboard Programme at the Money and Pensions Service, on a part-time basis alongside his role at the PPI.

Chris has a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of Warwick, and an MSc in Economics from Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. Chris is also an Honorary Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Ali Burak Kurtulan is currently serving as the Head of Department responsible for private pension, health, and life insurance regulation at the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Authority (IPRSA), Türkiye.

He began his professional career at a consultancy firm and joined the Undersecretariat of Treasury in 2012 as an Assistant Expert in the General Directorate of Insurance. Following the establishment of IPRSA, he was promoted to Head of Department. During this period, Ali benefited from various training programs, primarily those offered by the IMF, and also delivered courses on private pension systems at several universities and institutions.

He has also participated in the design and implementation of key pension reforms, including the introduction of the state contribution, implementation of automatic enrollment, and transfers from various pension funds operating on a defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) basis to the private pension system.

Ali completed his undergraduate studies in Mathematics and his graduate studies in Economics, Quantitative Finance, and Actuarial Sciences. During his master’s studies, he completed a six-month internship and thesis project at APG Group in the Netherlands. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Actuarial Sciences and is a licensed actuary.

In addition, Ali has served as a board member in various insurance companies and acts as an expert witness in compensation calculations for bodily injury claims.

Ms. Çiğdem Kılıç, who graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Computer Engineering, completed her Master’s degree in Financial Engineering at the same university and then completed her Master’s degree in Information Technology Law at Bilgi University. She started his career as a Software Engineer at Garanti BBVA Technology in 1999 and continued by assuming leadership roles in the fields of architecture, information technologies service management and strategy.

After working as Country Professional Services Director at Broadcom (formerly CA) Turkey between 2018-2020, she served as New Generation Technologies Middleware Applications Director at Softtech. Since 2023, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of Maxitech, Softtech’s subsidiary in Silicon Valley, and a member of the Softtech Academic Board; she took on the role of president and served as Deputy General Manager at Softtech.

As of January 2024, Ms. Kılıç has provided senior management consultancy and leadership training at Chikara, the company he founded. She is also continuing her doctorate at Kadir Has University, Department of Management Information Systems.

In addition to her professional business life, Ms. Kılıç teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the field of “Management Information Systems and Information Technology Law” at universities. Mrs. Çiğdem Kılıç was appointed as Deputy General Manager of Türkiye Sigorta and Türkiye Hayat Emeklilik Information Technologies as of March 7, 2024.

Hande HATUNOĞLU KURTULAN began her professional career in 2009 as an Assistant Actuary at the Insurance Supervision Board of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance. In 2020, she was appointed as the Head of the Life and Private Pension Supervision and Enforcement Department at the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Authority (SEDDK).

Following three years in this position, she was promoted to Vice President at the end of 2023. In her current role, she is responsible for the departments in charge of product-based regulations in non-life and life insurance, participation (takaful) insurance, and private pension systems.

In addition to her institutional duties, since the end of 2023 she has appointed as the Chairperson of the Board of the Pension Monitoring Center (EGM). She is additionally the Vice Chairperson of the Agricultural Insurance Pool (TARSİM) and a Board Member of the Insurance Information and Monitoring Center (SBM).

Ms. HATUNOĞLU KURTULAN graduated from Ankara University, Department of Statistics in 2006. She earned her M.A. in Economics from Middle East Technical University (METU) in 2012, and completed her Master’s degree in Actuarial Science at Columbia University, New York, between 2015 and 2017. She is a Fellow Actuary registered in the Turkish Actuarial Registry.

Mike Orszag, global research director at WTW,, is an economist who works on a broad range of  pensions, insurance, foresight and labor market topics. He has been with WTW (Willis Towers Watson) since 2001 and is the founding editor of the Journal of Pension Economics and Finance (published by Cambridge University Press since 2002 in conjunction with IOPS and OECD. In the past 18 months he has worked extensively on the applications of generative AI to insurance and pensions topics. 

Mr. Serdar Çelik is the Head of the Capital Markets and Financial Institutions Division in the OECD’s Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs (DAF). His main responsibilities include capital markets, corporate governance, financial education, financial consumer protection, insurance, pensions, and state-owned enterprises. He leads the secretariats to the OECD’s Committee on Financial Markets, Corporate Governance Committee, and Insurance and Private Pensions Committee, which are the custodian of global standards in business and finance. These standards include the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, G20/OECD High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection, OECD Core Principles of Private Pension Regulation and OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises. The Committees also engage extensively with numerous non-OECD countries through regional programmes in Asia, Latin America and MENA, as well as country technical assistance projects. The Division produces the OECD’s Global Debt Report, Pensions Outlook, Consumer Finance Risk Monitor, Global Corporate Sustainability Report, PISA on Financial Literacy and Compendium on Ownership and Governance of State-Owned Enterprises. Mr. Çelik has authored numerous publications on corporate governance, institutional investors and capital markets. Prior to joining the OECD, he worked at the Capital Markets Board of Turkey, where he supervised IPOs, mergers and acquisitions and reviewed corporate financial reports

Dennis is Deputy Director – Supervision, at the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) – Kenya. He joined the organization in 2008 as financial analyst and has steadily progressed through various leadership and managerial roles within the Authority.

His role is to oversight the retirement benefits sector, safeguarding members’ and plan sponsors interest by ensuring that all licensed entities operate in compliance with the legislative framework.

He is committed to shaping a future where every Kenyan worker retires with dignity and financial security.

Dennis holds an MBA in Strategic Management from United States International University and a first-class honors degree in Bachelor of Commerce from Strathmore University. He is a certified accountant and financial analyst, in good standing with the respective professional bodies.

Joining Standard Life in 2023 with over 17 years consulting and actuarial experience, Callum is a qualified actuary who is passionate about improving outcomes for members. He has had a positive influence on the industry in terms of embracing opportunities such as sustainable and illiquid investments. 

In his role with Standard Life, Callum is responsible for developing flagship investment propositions and working with clients and other stakeholders in the industry to identify how we can continue to deliver best outcomes for people across the UK.

Mr Cheng joined the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) in 2013 as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Executive Director.  He was appointed as Managing Director of the MPFA in 2022.

Before joining the MPFA, Mr Cheng served as an Administrative Officer up to Deputy Secretary in various bureaux and departments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government responsible for home affairs, financial services, trade and industry, education, information technology services, housing and social welfare.

Astrid Ludin is Deputy Commissioner at the FSCA. She joined the market conduct regulator in June 2021 and her responsibilities include oversight over financial markets and retirement funds supervision.

Astrid has more than 25 years of experience in public policy and regulation, and led major law reforms, including the reform of company, consumer protection and credit legislation in South Africa. She served as Deputy Director-General at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and spent three years at the Competition Commission, where she was responsible for stakeholder relations, communications, education and voluntary compliance. She was the first Commissioner of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), and she oversaw its transformation into a regulatory institution.

In various consulting capacities, Astrid has provided research and policy advice to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, the National Treasury, the Prudential Authority, Strate, a range of South African financial services firms, and financial sector regulators in Africa.

She has an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University, USA; a BA Hons in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from York University, UK; and a Certificate in Design Thinking from the Emeritus Institute of Management.

Victor Azuma Mejida is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), where he provides strategic leadership in policy implementation and institutional regulation within Ghana’s pension ecosystem.

A results-driven finance and investment banking professional, Victor brings extensive experience from both the central banking and commercial banking sectors. His expertise spans financial markets, foreign reserves management, strategic asset allocation, and financial risk management, underpinned by a deep understanding of the interplay between macroeconomic policy and investment portfolio performance.

During his tenure in central banking, he spearheaded key initiatives including Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, the Forward Forex Auction Framework, and internal management systems for the country’s foreign reserves. In commercial banking, he developed strong proficiency in credit risk analysis, facility structuring, and portfolio administration.

Victor holds an MBA in Investment Banking and Risk Management from the Business School Netherlands and a BSc in Economics from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). His vision is to strengthen Ghana’s pension industry as a catalyst for domestic capital formation and economic transformation.

Brendan Kennedy is Pensions Regulator and chief executive of the Pensions Authority. He has held this position since 2006.

Brendan has spent almost his entire career in pensions. Before joining the Authority in 2004, he held a variety of life insurance and consulting positions.

Brendan qualified as an actuary and is a Fellow of the Irish Institute of Pensions Management. He also chairs the Technical Committee of the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors.