HSBC Private Bank

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Liz Martins
UK Economist, HSBC Global Research

Liz Martins joined HSBC in 2010, having been head of Middle East and North Africa Research at Business Monitor International prior to that. She joined the bank in the Dubai office, where she covered 15 Middle Eastern economies, during the turbulent period of the Arab Spring, bringing HSBC's view on the region to clients across the world. In 2014, she moved to the London office to join the Global and European Economics teams in London. Since 2016 she has led HSBC's analysis of the UK economy, including the key task of navigating the economic landscape following the UK's vote to leave the EU.

Liz holds bachelors and masters degrees from Cambridge University.

Willem Sels
Chief Market Strategist, HSBC Private Bank

Willem Sels is Chief Market Strategist at HSBC Private Bank, based in London, UK. Willem joined HSBC in 2009, following 12 years on the ‘sell side’ where he worked mainly in investment research. Before joining HSBC, he was Global Head of Credit Strategy at Dresdner Kleinwort where he was a member of the bank's investment committee and worked with institutional clients to guide them through the credit crisis. Prior to Dresdner, Willem spent seven years at Goldman Sachs in fixed income, economics and commodities roles.

Willem joined HSBC Private Bank in as a Fixed Income Strategist, later broadening his scope to include all asset classes and coordinating the investment view publications for Private Bank clients. During 2013, he was interim head of the UK investment group and in late 2013, he moved on to lead the global fixed income brokerage business. In 2015, he was appointed Chief Market Strategist for HSBC Private Bank and Head of the Global Investment Committee.

Willem holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and an MSc from the University of Louvain (Belgium).

Jonathan Sparks
Head of Investment Strategy, HSBC Private Bank, UK and Channel Islands

Jonathan Sparks is the Head of Investment Strategy for the UK Private Bank. He has over 15 years of experience in wealth management and investment strategy, first as a portfolio manager at Coutts before moving on to Citigroup, where he worked as a EMEA strategist within the global investment strategy team.

Jonathan holds a masters degree from the University of Nottingham and is a CFA charterholder.

Tom Nelson
Head of Commodities and Resources, Investec Asset Management

Tom Nelson is the head of Commodities & Resources at Investec Asset Management. He joined the team in 2012 as co-portfolio manager of the Global Energy Fund.

Prior to Investec Asset Management, Tom spent seven years at Guinness Asset Management. He was part of the team that managed the outsourced Investec Global Energy Fund from 2005 to 2008, and was subsequently instrumental in the launch of the Guinness Global Energy Fund in 2008. Tom was co-portfolio manager of the Guinness Global Energy Fund and was also co-portfolio manager of the Guinness Thematic Equity Fund from its launch in 2010. He was also co-portfolio manager of the Guinness Energy Hedge Fund.

Tom holds the UKSIP Level 3 Certificate in Investment Management and an MA in Modern Languages (French and German) from the University of Oxford.