CFO Private Business Forum

Experience

Senior leadership team - Microsoft UK

Jas has 20 years' professional experience, including a 15-year tenure with Microsoft that has spanned 6 roles and 3 geographies. Before his current position of UK CFO, Jas became familiar with the UK market through his role as Commercial Finance Director. He has previously held the role of CFO at Microsoft Belgium and Luxembourg, also working in the Netherlands as FP&A Group Controller. The early phase of his Microsoft Finance career was spent within the Consumer business, supporting Xbox and Surface. Before that, Jas worked for UBS in the financial services industry amidst the credit crunch, then followed his passion and entered the technology sector. He is a qualified CIMA accountant and holds a degree in Accounting & Finance from Liverpool University.

Experience

Jon has over 15 years of experience in senior finance roles at 

operational and strategic levels in different sectors such as industrial, manufacturing and most recently software.  

As CFO of the Digital division for Baker Hughes, Jon set-up a new P&L exclusively focused on software and transitioned from perpetual licence to recurring revenue. 

His career to date has focused on the international business environment and he has 
worked and lived in 11 different countries and speaks 4 languages fluently. Jon is currently based in London with his wife and 2 young children. 

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Experience

Professor Aytekin Ertan joined London Business School in 2014 from Yale University. Aytekin’s research focuses on whether changes in accounting practices or regulation help overcome or create market frictions by studying the impact of these changes on the decision-making of the banking sector.

Aytekin has published his research in top journals such as The Accounting Review, the Journal of Accounting and Economics, the Journal of Accounting Research, the Review of Accounting Studies, and the Review of Financial Studies. Aytekin teaches in the EMBA, PhD, and Executive Education programmes. He is on the editorial boards of The Accounting Review and the Review of Accounting Studies and regularly referees for various other top journals.

Experience

Ira Gaberman’s route into consulting came thanks to an early role as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer. “I loved the corporate and commercial elements of the deals, which framed and underpinned the value generated, and wanted to be a part of making that happen,” he says. 

Now a member of Kearney’s global leadership, culture, and organization transformation team, Ira describes his time at the firm as ”a number of mini careers,” in which he has worked with clients across just about every sector to translate their big ideas into operational and organizational success. Ira helps organizations define and put in place the right operating model and organization structure, guides leadership teams to align and strengthen, and advises on the establishment and delivery of structured, complex change management and culture alignment for strategic and transformation success. 

Ira also specializes in helping healthcare providers and others in the industry to set up patient-centric services and organize themselves effectively to deliver new standards of care. 

With a deep-rooted curiosity about diverse societies and cultures, he has travelled the globe both before and with Kearney and has a deep understanding and appreciation for how different cultures impact the way organizations operate and perform. 

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Academic Focus

Professor Gratton is recognised as one of the world’s leading thinkers on human resources and the future of work. Over the last 20 years she has written extensively about the interface between people and organisations. She was named by The Times/Harvard Business Review ‘Business Thinkers50’ as one of the top 15 business thinkers in the world.

Experience

Lynda has written extensively about the interface between people and organisations. Her most recent book, Redesigning Work: How to Transform Your Organisation and Make Hybrid work for Everyone, presents a four-step framework to help organisations thrive in today’s more flexible working world, while The New Long Life, published with co-author Andrew Scott, LBS Professor of Economics, delivers a post-pandemic road map exploring the need to invest in productive longevity.

Previous titles cover the link between business and HR strategy (Living Strategy), new ways of working (The Democratic Enterprise), the rise of complex collaboration (Hot Spots and Glow) the impact of a changing world on employment and work (The Shift) and the impact of longevity on society (The 100 Year Life – co-authored with Andrew Scott).

Lynda is a Steward of the World Economic Forum and has chaired the WEF Council on Leadership. She serves as a judge on the Google.org prize, and in November 2017 was named as a council member of Prime Minister Abe’s council on social change.

Experience

Mathias Margreiter is director of several boards within the Swarovski Group.  

For over 20 years, Mr. Margreiter was CFO of the “Swarovski Crystal Business” within the Group. Mathias studied International Economics and Business Studies at Leopold-Franzens University in Innsbruck, and graduated from the Tuck School of Business in Dartmouth, USA, with a Master’s in Business Administration. 

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Experience

Patricio is the founder and managing director of FBXperts AG. He has held management positions in family businesses for three decades, including as a director at Hipp Holding AG, Switzerland, Intersnack GmbH & Co KG and Bertelsmann AG. Dr. P. Ohle is a Research Fellow of the Center for Family Business at the University of St. Gallen, where he completed his doctorate. He is also a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen in "Finance of large family firms".

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Experience

Thomas Seiberth is the Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Executive Board of Hilti Switzerland. Thomas Seiberth previously worked at Siemens and attended Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.

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Experience

Professor Florin Vasvari teaches courses on Distressed Investing as well as Private Equity and Venture Capital. He is an expert on the use of accounting information in credit markets and private equity funds.  

His research investigates the pricing and the role of accounting information in secondary debt markets, debt contracting issues, securitizations of syndicated loans, debt market intermediaries, bankruptcy valuation and private equity funds reporting practices and performance. His work on private equity includes work on ESG reporting, limited partners' private equity allocations, private equity valuation and performance measurement, private equity secondaries and aspects of risk management.  

Florin has published over 20 academic articles in leading academic journals and many other articles in industry journals. He is frequently invited to present at top business schools around the world as well as academic and practitioner conferences.  

Professor Vasvari currently serves as an Editor at The Accounting Review, a top journal published by the American Accounting Association. He also serves on the School’s Management Board and Finance Committee.  

With Eli Talmor, he co-authored Private Capital (vol. 1 Funds and vol. 2. Investments) in 2019. The book has been endorsed by leading figures in the private equity industry. Together with Eli, Florin has also co-authored International Private Equity, in 2011. 

Experience

Philip Wainwright joined Wates as Chief Financial Officer in December 2018 and sits on both the Group Board and the Executive Committee. 

He was appointed Interim Chief Executive in July 2022. Formerly Group Finance Director at Wilmott Dixon, Philip has a degree in mechanical engineering and began his career as a graduate engineer with Balfour Beatty, before qualifying as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young.

He has over 20 years of experience in the construction industry in both senior financial and operational roles, including at Byrne Group, Laing O’Rourke, Biwater Plc, National Grid and ED&F Man. 

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Experience

Béatrice is SVP-Chief Human Resources Officer for Cartier International based in Geneva and is responsible for defining our people strategy and leading its implementation to accompany the Maison’s business and cultural transformation.

Prior to joining Cartier in 2016, Béatrice had a rich and diverse experience within LVMH. She joined the group in Germany in 1994 as HR Director and in-house lawyer within Christian Dior Parfums, before being promoted in 2001 as SVP HR of LVMH Fashion Group worldwide, based in Paris.

One year later, Béatrice was appointed Global SVP HR of Louis Vuitton Malletier, where she contributed to the rapid growth of LV. In 2013, she diversified her portfolio by joining Moët Hennessy Wines & Spirits as SVP HR and finally was appointed Group HR Strategic Projects Director.

During her extensive career in HR, she put in place relevant HR strategies ensuring effective Talent Management and Development initiatives as well as Talent Acquisition actions to drive organizational effectiveness and competitiveness. Béatrice believes that people are the most important asset of an organization and is truly committed to supporting their engagement and performance to make them feel recognized, motivated, and cared for. Béatrice has a deep knowledge of the different Regions of the world, especially Japan and China; she is very engaged with intercultural development and focused on creating unique and successful organisations by implementing robust people-related programs.

Béatrice studied law in Germany and Switzerland and began her career in international law firms, also joining the “Treuhandanstalt” in Berlin as a lawyer for the German reunification.

Beatrice Wenzel-Lux-Krönig, based in Geneva, Geneve, Switzerland, is currently a Senior Vice President at Cartier, bringing experience from previous roles at Cartier, LVMH and Moët Hennessy. Prior to her role at Cartier she worked at Louis Vuitton Worldwide, based in Paris.

Educated in Germany and Switzerland, a law graduate, Béatrice began her career as an international lawyer, working at the “Treuhandanstalt” in Berlin. 

In 1994 Béatrice Kronig joined the LVMH Group as Human Resources Director and HR Coordinator for Parfums Christian Dior based in Düsseldorf where she implemented and coordinated the pilot scheme of shared service centre for the cosmetic brands. 

In 2001 Béatrice Kronig continued under Yves Carcelle at LVMH Fashion Group to implement and coordinate the Shared Service offices worldwide, including Louis Vuitton, prior to becoming in 2002 Senior Vice President Human Resources Louis Vuitton Malletier, and a member of the Executive Committee. In 2002 Louis Vuitton headcount was just under 9,000 with 292 stores worldwide. In 2011, the figures have increased to 17,000 employees and 458 stores worldwide in 63 countries. Throughout these past nine years, Béatrice has implemented High Potential development and Leadership programmes across the Louis Vuitton network, and played a major role in the creation of the China Zone and the elaboration of cutting edge retail training programmes – major contributing factors to Louis Vuitton’s current position as the global number 1 luxury brand. 

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Experience

Based in London, Elizabeth Joseph is an active member of Egon Zehnder’s Industrial Practice Group, leveraging her strong expertise and deep experience to support clients while focusing on energy, cleantech, sustainability and the blue economy. She is also a member of the firm’s CFO functional practice group and has worked on several CFO searches for both public and private companies.

Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Elizabeth spent a number of years in various roles at Shell across the UK. She gained experience across several upstream and downstream operational assets, leveraging her engineering, leadership, and advisory expertise to help improve sustainability, emergency response strategies and people and asset risk management outcomes. Earlier, she worked in land management services for the government of the state of Western Australia.

Elizabeth earned a BEng in environmental engineering and a BA in Italian from the University of Western Australia. In addition, she holds an MBA from London Business School (LBS). Elizabeth is a chartered engineer in the UK and Australia and a chartered safety and health professional.

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