Seminar 'Outlook 2026: Seizing Opportunities in a Transforming Market'
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Caroline De Clerck
Director of the Board, Beaulieu International Group, Board Member, Ideal Group
Caroline De Clerck holds a master’s degree in Business Economics and has been active within Ideal Group Holding since 2010. She began her professional career at the family-owned subsidiary Ideal Automotive in Germany as a plant controller and later became a director there. Since 2021, she has served as a family director at the other family business, Beaulieu International Group. She is a member of the real estate committee, the remuneration and nominations committee, and the audit committee. Her experience lies primarily in the fields of governance, strategy, and family businesses. -
Christian Mankiewicz
Principal, Head of Portfolio Management, Federated Hermes Private Equity
Christian Mankiewicz is leading the Federated Hermes' Private Equity Portfolio Management function, having responsibility for investment strategy research, risk & portfolio oversight, portfolio construction, bespoke investment solution, and sustainable investing. He is a member of the Federated Hermes Private Equity Investment Committee. He joined the London office in 2014, before moving to the Singapore office in 2021. Prior to this, he was a portfolio manager at German pension fund BVV. Mankiewicz holds a BA in Business Administration from the Berlin School of Economics and an MBA from London Business School. He is also a CFA charterholder. -
Edoardo Cilla
Director, Global Macro and Strategic Asset Allocation, Fidelity International
Edoardo Cilla is a Director in the Global Macro and Strategic Asset Allocation team at Fidelity International, where he leads the research related to the Capital Market Assumption model which is used to forecast risk and return of assets classes over the medium/long-term and to drive strategic asset allocation decisions. Previous to this role, he was part of the Investment Strategy Group at Vanguard, and before that, he was a capital markets research analyst at Russell Investments. Cilla holds a BSc and MSc in quantitative finance from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and a PhD from EDHEC Business School where he specialised in empirical asset pricing with Bayesian econometric methods. -
Jan De Bondt
Advisor at Vlerick Business School and Board Member at various organisations
Jan De Bondt has over 30 years of experience in the investment banking industry, both domestically and abroad. He has been with a.o. Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Société Générale. Since 2017, he focuses on advising companies and financial institutions on funding, business development and strategy. In addition, he is Co Director Executive Asset Management Course of Vlerick Business School. De Bondt is Board Member at various organisations. -
Laura Cooper
Head of Macro Credit and Global Investment Strategist, Nuveen
Laura Cooper is Managing Director, Head of Macro Credit and Global Investment Strategist at Nuveen where she provides directional guidance to internal portfolio managers and strategic insights to clients, helping to shape macro and top-down investment views. Prior to joining Nuveen, Cooper led a team of multi-asset strategists at BlackRock dedicated to providing macro insights and tactical investment research. -
Reinout De Bock
Head of European Rates Strategy, UBS
Reinout De Bock is Head of Rates Strategy for Europe at UBS. Before UBS, he worked at Pharo, a global macro hedge fund, the IMF, and Lehman Brothers. De Bock holds a PhD in Economics from Northwestern University and master’s degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Antwerp. -
Tom Mergaerts
CEO, Amonis OFP
Tom Mergaerts is Chief Executive Officer of Amonis, the pension fund for doctors, dentists, and pharmacists, a role he has held since 2011 after serving as Chief Financial Officer from 2004. He joined Amonis in 1999 as an actuary. Earlier, he worked at the Cabinet of the Flemish Minister for Budget, Finance, and Health Policy. He holds master’s degrees from KU Leuven and is active in Belgian actuarial and pension institutions, including serving on the executive committee and board of directors of Pensioplus, the Belgian association of pension institutions. -
Vincent Juvyns
Chief Investment Strategist, ING Investment Office, ING Belgium
Vincent Juvyns is Chief Investment Strategist within ING Belgium’s Investment Office since April 2025. He leads the investment strategy team in Belgium and works closely with colleagues in the Netherlands and Luxembourg to define ING Investment Office’s investment strategy. He also serves as ING Belgium’s investment ambassador at client conferences and events and is the main point of contact for the press on investment topics. Juvyns brings 20 years of experience in asset management. Before joining ING, he worked at J.P. Morgan Asset Management as Global Market Strategist, where he delivered market and economic insights to wholesale and institutional clients across the Benelux, France, Switzerland, and the Middle East. -
Wim Vermeir
Chief Investment Officer, AG Insurance, Group Head of Investments, Ageas
Wim Vermeir became in April 2011 Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director of AG insurance. Since June 2012, he is also Group Head of Investments for Ageas. In 2019, he was appointed President of the Financial Committee of the King Bauduin Foundation. Before joining AG(eas), he held different positions at Dexia Asset Management between 1995 and 2006, including Equity Manager, Head of Socially Responsible Investing, Head of Global Balanced Management and Head of Equity. In 2006, he was appointed Chief Investment Officer for Traditional Investments and Member of the Executive Committee at Dexia Asset Management. Vermeir started his career at the University of Ghent and Vlerick School of Management as research assistant in corporate finance. He holds a civil engineer degree in physics (University of Ghent) and an MBA (Vlerick School of Management).