Speakers

Senior Strategist, Asset Management, Bank for International Settlements, Basel

Pierre Cardon, CFA, is Senior Strategist within the Banking Department of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland.

Pierre has held senior management positions at the BIS for more than thirty years, mainly building global asset management services for central banks and official institutions. He also coordinates key cooperative initiatives, such as the Green Bond Fund and the Asian Bond Fund. He actively promotes environmental sustainability across BIS financial assets.

Responsible for the BIS Pension Fund, Pierre has served as Secretary to the BIS Pension Fund Committee since 1998 and as Advisory Committee member of the European Pension Fund Investment Forum since 2002.

Pierre also served as a member of the CFA Institute’s Board of Governors from 2006 to 2012 and of the Board of Directors of the Swiss CFA Society from 2004 to 2006.

Pierre holds an MA in economics from the University of Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Head of Strategy & Advice, Global Sovereign Markets, UBS Asset Management

As Head of Global Strategy he analyzes the market trends affecting the investment behavior of central banks, sovereign wealth funds and other state-controlled investment institutions and work closely with the investment teams in providing investment advice and developing tailored investment solutions for this client segment.

Max established himself as a global thought leader on the macroeconomic, financial and political trends in sovereign wealth management. He has often been called in by leading institutions as an expert on global economic and financial matters. Max has recently published The New Economics of Sovereign Wealth Funds in the Wiley Finance Series, a book providing a thorough guide to sovereign wealth funds, covering the drivers of the industry, how it operates and grows, the interest from and in Western markets and the pivotal role that sovereign wealth funds play in the world economy.

In his sixteen year long international professional career, Max has been Head of governmental affairs for UBS in Europe, Middle East and Africa, EMEA Senior Economist and consultant advising governments and corporates in emerging markets on behalf of international institutions.

Max holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Rome where he lectured and a Msc in Economics from the University of London. He is a member of the Executive Committed of the Asset Management Investment Council (ICMA) and a Fellow at the Centre for International Markets, Money and Regulations at Bocconi University.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Group of Thirty (G30) and former Governor, Bank of Israel

Prof. Jacob A. Frenkel is Chairman Emeritus of the Group of Thirty (G-30), a private nonprofit Consultative Group on International Economic and Monetary Affairs, he is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the financial firm Plus500, and of Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics.

Prof. Frenkel served as Chairman of JPMorgan Chase International (2009-2020), as Chairman and CEO of the G-30 (2001-2011), as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the G-30 (2012-22), as Vice Chairman of American International Group, Inc. (2004-2009), and as Chairman of Merrill Lynch International (2000-2004). During (1991-2000) he served two terms as the Governor of the Bank of Israel. He is credited with reducing inflation in Israel and achieving price stability, liberalizing Israel’s financial markets, removing foreign exchange controls, and integrating the Israeli economy into the global financial system.

During (1987-1991) he was the Economic Counselor and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund, and during 1973-1987 he was on the faculty of the University of Chicago where he was the David Rockefeller Professor of International Economics and Editor of the Journal of Political Economy.

He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, a life-time Fellow of the International Economic Association, a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Distinguished Fellow of the CEPR, Chairman of the Global Advisory Board of Value Base, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Bureau of Economic Research, of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and of the Aspen Institute Italia. He is also a member emeritus of Temasek International Panel (TIP), a Senior Advisor of Temasek International Advisors, a member of the Competitive Markets Advisory Council of the CME Group, a member of the G20 Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance, a member of the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing of the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, a member of the International Advisory Council of China Dev. Bank, and a Global Member of the Trilateral Commission.

Prof. Frenkel is a Laureate of the 2002 Israel Prize in Economics, a recipient of the Scopus Award from the Hebrew University, the Hugo Ramniceanu Prize for Economics from the Tel-Aviv University, the Czech Republic’s Karel Englis Prize in Economics, the “Order de Mayo al Merito” (in the rank of Gran Cruz) decoration from the Government of Argentina, the “Order of Merit” (in the rank of Cavaliere di Gran Croce) decoration from the Republic of Italy, and the YIVO Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a recipient of several Honorary Doctoral degrees and other decorations and awards, including the “1993 Economic Policy Award” by “Emerging Markets” and the “1997 Central Banker of the Year Award” by “Euromoney”.

Prof. Frenkel served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University (2013-21), where he is Chairman Emeritus and also Chairman of the Frenkel-Zuckerman Institute for Global Economics. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (1995-1996), as Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1999-2000), as Governor of the IMF and Alternate Governor of the World Bank for Israel (1991-2000), as a member of the Economic Advisory Panel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (1986-2014), as a member of the Board of Trustees of the New York Economic Club (2013-2019), and as Chairman of the Cabinet of Economic Experts of the Minister of Finance, the State of Israel (2022-23).
During 2009-19 he served on the Board of Directors of Boston Properties, and of Loews Corporation.

Prof. Frenkel is the author of numerous books and articles in the fields of International Economics and Macro-Economics. He holds a B.A. in economics and political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago

André Müller-Wegner was appointed as Head of Client Coverage and AM Region Head Switzerland for UBS Asset Management in June 2024. He is a member of the UBS AM Management team. He is also the Chairman of UBS Asset Management Deutschland GmbH.

Prior to this, he was Head Global Wealth Management Client Coverage from May 2018, responsible for the distribution and the relationship management of UBS Asset Management's biggest client, UBS Global Wealth Management.

He started his career as an Investment Funds Analyst at UBS in 1999 and has held various roles within UBS since then including Investment Solutions Specialist, Real Estate Portfolio Manager, Head Real Estate Product Management, Head Fund Product Development & Management and Head Fund Management Services.

André is married with two kids and spends his free time on a mountain bike in the summer and on skis in the winter.

Strategy & Advice Global Sovereign Markets, UBS Asset Management, Zürich

Philipp Salman is a member of the Global Sovereign Markets team, working as a strategist and client advisor for the Head of Strategy, Max Castelli.

As part of that role, Philipp analyzes global economic and financial trends affecting the investment behavior of Central Banks, Sovereign Wealth Funds and other state-controlled investment institutions and contributes to their strategic and investment decision-making processes. He advises clients on strategic and tactical asset allocation and works with clients and portfolio managers in developing investment, advisory and training solutions tailored to the sovereign institution’s client segment.

Philipp joined UBS Asset Management – Global Sovereign Markets in 2015. In his previous professional career at UBS, Philipp was an Equity Trader for US securities at UBS Investment Bank and a member of the UBS Investor Relations team located in Zurich.

Head of Global Sovereign Markets, Asset Management

Willem is Head of Global Sovereign Markets, with responsibility for all sovereign institutional client activity globally. This includes SWFs, Central Banks, national pension funds and other government agencies.

Willem is a Member of the Management Committees for UBS Asset Management in EMEA and the Institutional Business globally.

Willem joined UBS Asset Management in 2017 as Head of Global Sovereign Markets.

Willem began his financial career in 1990 working in Equity Sales, initially for Lehman Bros, followed by Morgan Stanley, both based in London. He spent 21 years at Morgan Stanley in a variety of roles, both as a senior coverage person and manager including co-Head of Cash Equity Sales in Europe with specific responsibility for Continental Europe. He was a member of the Operating Committee in Morgan Stanley's European Equity Division.

Senior Fellow, Center for Financial Studies, Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main
Former Chairman, UBS Group AG
Former President, Deutsche Bundesbank

Axel A. Weber has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBS from 2012 to 2022. He was Chairman of the Institute of International Finance, Vice Chairman of the Swiss Bankers Association and is a member of the Group of Thirty as well as the Chairman of the Trilateral Commission Europe and the President of the Center for Financial Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt/Main, among others.

Mr. Weber was president of the German Bundesbank between 2004 and 2011, during which time he also served as a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, German governor of the International Monetary Fund and as a member of the G7 and G20 Ministers and Governors.

Mr. Weber's academic career includes professorships at the Universities of Cologne, Frankfurt / Main, Bonn and Chicago. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Siegen, where he also received his habilitation.