Aileen Mathieson joined Aspen in November 2021, as the Group Chief Investment Officer and is based in the London office. She brings more than 15 years of investment and financial experience, and previously served at Aberdeen Standard Investments where she was Global Head of Insurance.

Prior to this, Aileen was CIO, UK Life for Zurich and during her career also held senior finance roles at Nucleus Financial Group plc, Standard Life Group, Diageo plc and EMI Music. Aileen started her career at KPMG.

Kay Herr, managing director, is the U.S. Chief Investment Officer for the Global Fixed

Income, Currency & Commodities group, responsible for all fixed income investment

strategies in the U.S. Prior to becoming the U.S. CIO, Kay was the Head of Research for

the GFICC team. Kay returned to Fixed Income in 2019 after having spent the prior 17

years in Equity Research, as a portfolio manager, research analyst, and Associate

Director of Global Developed Market Equity Research. An employee since 1999, Kay was

a credit research analyst for investment grade and high yield securities in U.S. Fixed

Income before moving to U.S. Equity in 2002. She holds a B.A. in economics from the

University of Virginia, where she was an Echols Scholar, and an M.B.A. with distinction

from New York University Stern School of Business. She is also a CFA charterholder.

Sonal Desai, Ph.D. is the executive vice president and chief investment officer for Franklin Templeton Fixed Income. Dr. Desai is responsible for overseeing Franklin's Municipal, Corporate Credit, Floating Rate, Multisector, Global (including Emerging Markets), and Money Market Fixed Income teams. She is also a portfolio manager for a number of strategies, including Core Plus, Strategic Income, Total Return, Low Duration, Global Absolute Return, and Global Aggregate Fixed Income.

She is a member of Franklin Resources' Executive Committee, a small group of the company's top leaders responsible for shaping the firm's overall strategy. In addition, she serves on the firm's Management and Investment Committees.

Prior to her current role, she served as a portfolio manager with Dr. Michael Hasenstab for the flagship Templeton Global Bond and Templeton Global Total Return strategies, as well as director of research for Templeton Global Macro, shaping the team's research agenda of in-depth global macroeconomic analysis covering thematic topics, regional and country analyses, and interest rate, currency and sovereign credit market outlooks. She started her career as an assistant professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh, and then worked for over six years at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC. Following this, she joined the private financial sector and worked for about five years as director and senior economist for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in London. Dr. Desai joined Franklin Templeton in 2009 from Thames River Capital in London.

Dr. Desai holds a bachelor of arts in economics from Delhi University and a Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University. She was part of the Templeton Global Bond Fund portfolio management team named Morningstar's Fixed Income Manager of the Year in Canada in 2013. In addition, she has been named to Barron's annual list of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance every year since it was introduced in 2020.

Myriam Durand is Global Head of the Corporate Finance Group (CFG) for Moody’s Ratings, overseeing the development of rating opinions and research on corporates worldwide.

Before this, Myriam served as Global Head of MIS Assessments (MISA). She supported its creation and built the assets, capabilities and talent for thought leadership and strategic vision for the group, including overseeing the majority investments in Vigeo Eiris and 427. MISA’s mission was to develop risk assessment offerings beyond credit ratings with primary focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG).

Previously, she led CFG in EMEA and also spearheaded MIS’s ESG efforts in the EMEA region, helping to incorporate ESG risks into credit analysis, and representing MIS at COP21 and COP23. Myriam has also been MIS Country Manager for France since 2015, overseeing MIS’s activities in the country. 

Kathrin Heitmann is an Associate Managing Director in the Corporate Finance Group (CFG) and heads the US Homebuilding Team. 

Immediately prior to her current role, Kathrin was a VP-Senior Creditor Officer in the Project and Infrastructure Finance Group, with responsibility for a portfolio of US infrastructure projects across the power, energy, and transportation sectors and the lead of Moody’s Project Finance Bank Loan default research.

Kathrin joined Moody’s in 2007 and has held various roles during her tenure, such as lead analyst for regional and local governments in Canada as well as for European heavy industrial corporations out of the Corporate Finance team in Germany. 

Kathrin is a certified Financial Risk Manager and a CFA charterholder. Kathrin is a Country Champion for Moody’s Network of CFA Charterholders (MNCC), a Mentor for Young Women in Finance, and Co-Treasurer of Dance/NYC, a NY non-profit. 

She studied business administration at UAM University in Madrid, Spain, and holds a Master’s degree in business administration from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.

David Allen, CFA, is a Director on the Board of the CFA Society of New York. He is also Managing Director at Octane Investments, a firm he founded to invest in traditional energy companies. Prior to this, he served large institutions at Schroders and served in a similar position at AB, for nearly a decade at each of those firms. He also has founded and ran two FinTech startups and he traded FX in the 1990s. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Economics and completed the Value Investing executive education curriculum at Columbia University. Allen is Chair of the NY Society’s Programming Committee, and recently passed the CFA Institute’s ESG certification.

David Allen, CFA, is a Director on the Board of the CFA Society of New York. He is also Managing Director at Octane Investments, a firm he founded to invest in traditional energy companies. Prior to this, he served large institutions at Schroders and served in a similar position at AB, for nearly a decade at each of those firms. He also has founded and ran two FinTech startups and he traded FX in the 1990s. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Economics and completed the Value Investing executive education curriculum at Columbia University. Allen is Chair of the NY Society’s Programming Committee, and recently passed the CFA Institute’s ESG certification.

Sonal Desai, Ph.D. is the executive vice president and chief investment officer for Franklin Templeton Fixed Income. Dr. Desai is responsible for overseeing Franklin's Municipal, Corporate Credit, Floating Rate, Multisector, Global (including Emerging Markets), and Money Market Fixed Income teams. She is also a portfolio manager for a number of strategies, including Core Plus, Strategic Income, Total Return, Low Duration, Global Absolute Return, and Global Aggregate Fixed Income.

She is a member of Franklin Resources' Executive Committee, a small group of the company's top leaders responsible for shaping the firm's overall strategy. In addition, she serves on the firm's Management and Investment Committees.

Prior to her current role, she served as a portfolio manager with Dr. Michael Hasenstab for the flagship Templeton Global Bond and Templeton Global Total Return strategies, as well as director of research for Templeton Global Macro, shaping the team's research agenda of in-depth global macroeconomic analysis covering thematic topics, regional and country analyses, and interest rate, currency and sovereign credit market outlooks. She started her career as an assistant professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh, and then worked for over six years at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC. Following this, she joined the private financial sector and worked for about five years as director and senior economist for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in London. Dr. Desai joined Franklin Templeton in 2009 from Thames River Capital in London.

Dr. Desai holds a bachelor of arts in economics from Delhi University and a Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University. She was part of the Templeton Global Bond Fund portfolio management team named Morningstar's Fixed Income Manager of the Year in Canada in 2013. In addition, she has been named to Barron's annual list of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance every year since it was introduced in 2020.

Myriam Durand is Global Head of the Corporate Finance Group (CFG) for Moody’s Ratings, overseeing the development of rating opinions and research on corporates worldwide.

Before this, Myriam served as Global Head of MIS Assessments (MISA). She supported its creation and built the assets, capabilities and talent for thought leadership and strategic vision for the group, including overseeing the majority investments in Vigeo Eiris and 427. MISA’s mission was to develop risk assessment offerings beyond credit ratings with primary focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG).

Previously, she led CFG in EMEA and also spearheaded MIS’s ESG efforts in the EMEA region, helping to incorporate ESG risks into credit analysis, and representing MIS at COP21 and COP23. Myriam has also been MIS Country Manager for France since 2015, overseeing MIS’s activities in the country. 

Kathrin Heitmann is an Associate Managing Director in the Corporate Finance Group (CFG) and heads the US Homebuilding Team. 

Immediately prior to her current role, Kathrin was a VP-Senior Creditor Officer in the Project and Infrastructure Finance Group, with responsibility for a portfolio of US infrastructure projects across the power, energy, and transportation sectors and the lead of Moody’s Project Finance Bank Loan default research.

Kathrin joined Moody’s in 2007 and has held various roles during her tenure, such as lead analyst for regional and local governments in Canada as well as for European heavy industrial corporations out of the Corporate Finance team in Germany. 

Kathrin is a certified Financial Risk Manager and a CFA charterholder. Kathrin is a Country Champion for Moody’s Network of CFA Charterholders (MNCC), a Mentor for Young Women in Finance, and Co-Treasurer of Dance/NYC, a NY non-profit. 

She studied business administration at UAM University in Madrid, Spain, and holds a Master’s degree in business administration from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.

Kay Herr, managing director, is the U.S. Chief Investment Officer for the Global Fixed

Income, Currency & Commodities group, responsible for all fixed income investment

strategies in the U.S. Prior to becoming the U.S. CIO, Kay was the Head of Research for

the GFICC team. Kay returned to Fixed Income in 2019 after having spent the prior 17

years in Equity Research, as a portfolio manager, research analyst, and Associate

Director of Global Developed Market Equity Research. An employee since 1999, Kay was

a credit research analyst for investment grade and high yield securities in U.S. Fixed

Income before moving to U.S. Equity in 2002. She holds a B.A. in economics from the

University of Virginia, where she was an Echols Scholar, and an M.B.A. with distinction

from New York University Stern School of Business. She is also a CFA charterholder.

Aileen Mathieson joined Aspen in November 2021, as the Group Chief Investment Officer and is based in the London office. She brings more than 15 years of investment and financial experience, and previously served at Aberdeen Standard Investments where she was Global Head of Insurance.

Prior to this, Aileen was CIO, UK Life for Zurich and during her career also held senior finance roles at Nucleus Financial Group plc, Standard Life Group, Diageo plc and EMI Music. Aileen started her career at KPMG.