Laurie Havelock, editor-at-large, IR Magazine
Laurie Havelock is a journalist, writer and podcaster who has worked with IR Magazine for almost a decade. Outside of writing about investor relations, corporate governance and green finance, he also works for the i newspaper as a money and business reporter and hosts several podcasts, including Idle Fantasy and Podshambles. He lives in London with his dog Mischa.
Katrina Rymill, SVP corporate finance & sustainability, EQUINIX
Katrina Rymill is the SVP of Corporate Finance & Sustainability at Equinix, a global interconnection and data center provider. Joining Equinix in 2011, she spearheaded the effort of re-architecting the company’s IR messaging and communication strategy. Projects have included establishing long-term financial targets, setting up Equinix’s first share buyback program, investor targeting, and communicating Equinix’s transition to a REIT structure. Prior to Equinix, Katrina was Director of Investor Relations at CyberSource, an ecommerce payment gateway, which was acquired by Visa in 2010. In 2009, CyberSource Investor Relations was ranked 2nd by Institutional Investor Magazine. Previously, Katrina was the Head of Investor Relations at Redback Networks. There, she created the IR program after Redback emerged from a Chapter 11 debt restructuring, and worked to build a diversified investor base, including a $200 million Secondary Offering. Katrina started her career at Merrill Lynch in Investment Banking, where she worked on various leveraged finance and debt deals.
Katrina earned an M.B.A. from MIT Sloan and a B.A. in Biology from Harvard University.
James Siccardi, vice president, investor relations, Energy Recovery
James Siccardi is Vice President of Investor Relations at Energy Recovery, where he is responsible for ensuring that management’s strategy is understood by the investment community. He serves as a liaison between Company management and Wall Street analysts, and between Company management and Main Street institutional investors. He is responsible for ensuring that Energy Recovery’s Executive management team and its Board of Directors understands, and adequately responds to, the needs of its external stakeholders.
Mr. Siccardi brings extensive equity investment experience, having spent over 20 years on the energy equity research teams of Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, in institutional equity sales at Societe Generale, as portfolio manager and Global Head of Energy for HSBC Asset Management, and in Investor Relations at Occidental Petroleum. Additionally, Mr. Siccardi launched and managed a Natural Resource Hedge Fund at PAW Capital Partner in Greenwich, CT.
Mr. Siccardi’s sell-side, buy-side and corporate background provides him a unique perspective to understand the various needs of the diverse group of Energy Recovery stakeholders with whom he regularly interacts. He takes great pride in initiating and building the relationships that have helped Energy Recovery surge to record levels, and positioning Energy Recovery’s Investor Relations Department to be recognized as Runner-up in Investor Relation Magazine’s Top Small Cap Investor Relations Department (2020).
Mr. Siccardi earned an MBA in Finance, with a focus in Investments, from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, and a BA in Finance, with a minor in Accounting, from Villanova University.
Joseph Vicari, managing director and ESG practice lead, Broadridge
Joseph has broad experience in product innovation and development, leading large scale strategic technology projects and developing industry transforming communication channels. He currently serves as ESG Practice Lead and Bank/Broker-Dealer Practice Lead covering areas such as regulatory disclosure, digital regulatory communications, corporate and class actions, and document and communication design. During his career he has started and led business units, a technology innovation lab, and had various leading roles in strategic planning and development.
Recent engagements
- IR/CS Magazine ESG Integration Forum | Preparing for the Next AGM season (Dec 2020)
- NISCA Knowledge Center | The Future of Marketing and Regulatory Communications (July 2020)
- Broadridge | Communicating the “New Now” (June 2020)
- NACD | The Good, the Bad, and the Unbelievable: Effective Shareholder Engagement During a World-wide Pandemic (April 2020).
Ben Webster, CEO, Owl ESG
Ben Webster is the CEO at OWL ESG, the provider of the most up-to-date, accurate, transparent (to the source), and objective ESG data and analytics
He has 25+ years of experience in the financial services industry, including asset management, advisory, capital markets, hedge funds, and private equity, with significant expertise in ETFs, indexing, and ESG investing. He is a frequent speaker regarding the use of ESG data in the investment process, and is a proud proponent of how ESG-based investing makes the world a better place for future generations. Mr. Webster holds a bachelors in Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
